Sunderland find themselves in the midst of an exciting transfer race to sign a striker they’ve wanted for a fair while now. Leicester City’s Tom Cannon.
Tom Cannon is a player that Sunderland fans surely know well by now, and who Kristjaan Speakman has certainly known for a long time.
Sunderland have looked to sign Cannon in the previous two windows and they’re trying again in this January transfer window. And matters have really escalated in the last 24 hours with Sunderland and Sheffield united well in the race for his signature.
Here’s everything that’s happened so far…
Sheffield United match Sunderland bid for Tom Cannon
On Tuesday, it looked like Sheffield United were leading the race for Cannon, after it was reported that they were ready to spend £7million on the Irishman. But that evening, it was revealed that Sunderland were willing to pay £13million for Cannon at the end of the season.
Since however, Alan Nixon has confirmed that Sheffield United will match Sunderland in the race for Cannon, at £13million. In between all of that, Leicester City officially recalled Cannon from his loan spell at Stoke City where he’d scored nine in 22 Championship games.
Everton and Burnley join Tom Cannon race
Cannon graduated through the youth academy at Everton, leaving for Leicester City in a £7.5million deal in 2023. But it was revealed on Wednesday that Everton are keen to re-sign Cannon in this January transfer window, in what looked like a huge initial blow to Sunderland and indeed Sheffield United.
Since, Everton’s interest in Cannon has been played down by a few sources, one being journalist Alan Myers on X. But it’s interesting to note that Cannon’s brother, Kenny Moyes, is David Moyes’ brother.
Another team who’ve reportedly joined the race for Cannon is Burnley. That means three of the Championship’s current top four in Sunderland, Sheffield United, and now Burnley, are all in the race to sign Cannon from Leicester City.
Regis Le Bris on Tom Cannon links to Sunderland
On Wednesday, Regis Le Bris spoke to the press ahead of a crunch match against Burnley in the Championship on Friday night. And of course, the topic of Cannon was brought up. As ever though, Le Bris played it cool.
Le Bris said of the Cannon rumours on Wednesday: “I like good players. It’s still interesting to watch good players in the league but at the minute we can’t comment on anything… Speculation is speculation, so I can’t comment on anything about that.”
Sheffield United front-runners for Tom Cannon
At the start of Wednesday at least, it looked like the race to sign Cannon was between Sunderland and Sheffield United. No other team looked like they’d be matching their supposed £13million bids for the player.
Then Everton joined the race, then Burnley, per reports anyway. Now the race for Cannon seems much more wide open, although Everton and Burnley’s interest doesn’t seem concrete: Everton’s has been all but ruled out.
Nevertheless, Nixon stated on Wednesday that he thinks Sheffield United are the ones slightly ahead in the race for the 22-year-old. He posted on Bluesky when asked about the situation: “Sheff U back in it … May have nosed ahead.”
- READ MORE: Sunderland have enquired about signing Rangers star in January, Cats face stern competition
Sheff U back in it … May have nosed ahead
— Alan Nixon (@reluctantnicko.bsky.social) 15 January 2025 at 10:28
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