Sunderland have emerged as favourites to sign Thomas Meunier, who was a target for Hull City at the start of the transfer window.
The Belgian right-back is available as a free agent after his Lille contact expired in the summer.
The Tigers were said to be in "advanced talks" with Meunier last month. They were limited in what they could do in the first fortnight of the transfer window as they had to claw back a £6m overspend before the end of June to avoid breaching Football League rules. That could have led to a points deduction or fine in the coming Premier League campaign.
With World Cup appearances taking his cap collection to 83, it was hoped the 34-year-old former Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Trabzonspor defender could do a similar job as an experienced leader for the newly-promoted Tigers as Granit Xhaka did for Sunderland last season - albeit Meunier has no previous Premier League experience.
To date, Hull have only signed experienced goalkeeper Jack Butland this window, but they are closing in on the additions of Oscar Zambrano – who had a loan spell in East Yorkshire cut short by a drugs ban in 2024-25 – and Swedish World Cup player Elliot Stroud. It is hoped a second goalkeeper and an unnamed centre-back will follow soon after.
The transfer window closes at 11pm on September 1.