The Times
Sunderland held talks with Connor Wickham’s representatives in London last night after stealing a march on Liverpool in the pursuit of the Ipswich Town teenager.
The npower Championship club have accepted an undisclosed bid of about £10 million from Sunderland for the highly regarded striker and Steve Bruce, the manager, hopes that he can persuade Wickham to move to Wearside.
Anfield has long been the preferred destination for the England Under-21 player and his family and, while it has been a widely held assumption that the 18-year-old would move there, Liverpool are concentrating on signing Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam and Gaël Clichy.
Ipswich have been eager to secure the best-possible price for their leading asset and, in contrast with Liverpool, Sunderland could offer Wickham regular first-team football this season. They hope that will swing momentum in their favour for a player who has also been monitored by Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.
Bruce is close to announcing deals for Craig Gardner, who will leave Birmingham City for £6 million, and Ji Dong Won, the South Korea forward.