Sunderland director of football Florent Ghisolfi (Image: Richard Sellers)
Sunderland director of football Florent Ghisolfi (Image: Richard Sellers)
SUNDERLAND have made a move for Marseille's Brazilian winger Igor Paixao as the Black Cats continue their push to strengthen their attack ahead of next Tuesday's transfer deadline.
Signing a winger has been a priority throughout the summer with Sporting's Geny Catamo having been identified as a leading target.
But with Sunderland chiefs having so far been frustrated in their pursuit of the Mozambique international, alternate targets were lined up, one of which is Paixao.
Sky Sports now say Sunderland tabled a bid for the 26-year-old earlier this week and talks with Marseille are ongoing.
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Paixao, who was previously of interest to Leeds United, only joined Marseille from Feyenoord last summer but enjoyed an extremely impressive first year in France, scoring 12 goals and providing seven assists in all competitions.
But after Marseille could only manage a fifth place finish in Ligue 1, which resulted in missing out on Champions League football, they're in a position where they need to sell stars and raise funds this summer.
And it's said Paixao's position is causing conflict behind the scenes at Marseille.
With their financial situation in mind, reports in France claim Marseille's ownership are keen to cash in on the winger, who is said to be valued at around the €50m mark.
But Marseille boss Bruno Genesio is said to be desperate to keep hold of the winger after his arrival as head coach in the summer.
Florent Ghisolfi is pushing to further strengthen Sunderland's squad after the arrival of Dayann Methalie and Jules Ahoka in recent days, with the wide areas the priority for Sunderland officials.
The Black Cats have been locked in something of a stand-off with Sporting over Catamo.
Catamo has a release clause in his current Sporting contract which is understood to be set at around £51.6m, but Sunderland officials are adamant they will not be triggering it as they feel it seriously overvalues the 25-year-old.
While the Sporting hierarchy have dug their heels in over Catamo throughout the summer, Portuguese sources continue to insist that the Lisbon-based club are willing to sell for a fee of at least £35m.
Sunderland’s recruitment team still feel that figure is too high, but it is much closer to their own valuation of the winger.
Sunderland’s pursuit of Catamo has been boosted by the player’s desire to move to Wearside, which has been conveyed to them via intermediaries on a number of occasions.
Sunderland, who handed Romaine Mundle a new contract at the Stadium of Light earlier this week, are looking to get off the mark in the Premier League when they host Fulham on Saturday.
Before then, the Black Cats will discover their Europa League opponents, with the draw for the league phase of the competition taking place on Saturday.