Sunderland are interested in Manchester City's Jack Grealish (Image: Cody Froggatt)
Sunderland are interested in Manchester City's Jack Grealish (Image: Cody Froggatt)
SUNDERLAND have launched a sensational bid to try and bring Jack Grealish to the Stadium of Light, with the Black Cats tabling an offer to sign the Manchester City man on loan.
Sunderland are willing to cover a chunk of Grealish's Manchester City salary and there would be the possibility to make the deal permanent when the 30-year-old's contract at the Etihad expires next summer.
The surprise move for Grealish is understood to be running alongside the pursuit of Igor Paixao, with the Black Cats having submitted at least one offer to Marseille for the Brazilian international in the last week.
The interest in Paixao emerged earlier on Wednesday, with the 26-year-old having been lined up as an alternative target for Geny Catamo. Sunderland have pursued the Mozambique international throughout the summer window but have so far been unable to force a breakthrough in discussions with Sporting.
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Talks with Marseille over Paixao are ongoing, but Sunderland are now pushing to strike an agreement on Grealish.
The former Aston Villa forward, who has 39 England caps, has featured in Manchester City's first two competitive games of the season but it's still expected that he'd be allowed to leave if the deal worked.
Grealish spent last season on loan at Everton, where he made a very promising start but his spell was cut short by injury. The Toffees had the option to make the deal permanent for around £50m but opted against activating that clause.
When he was quizzed on Grealish's future recently, new Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca said: “At the moment, the transfer window is open and we’ll see what happens.”
As for Paixao, his situation is causing conflict behind the scenes at his club in France.
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.
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. Reports in France on Wednesday claimed Genesio is putting "monstrous pressure" on club officials to keep hold of the winger.
But Paixao is believed to be keen on the Sunderland move with a verbal agreement on personal terms said to have already been agreed.
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.
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 Sunday.
Before then, the Black Cats will discover their Europa League opponents, with the draw for the league phase of the competition taking place on Friday.