Sunderland are still in desperate need of another forward following their relegation fight last season. While Connor Wickham scored a number of important goals in the closing stages of the league last year, he has failed to hit the ground running this year. Meanwhile Jozy Altidore and Steven Fletcher both look as if they might struggle to score on a regular basis.
The Black Cats had pinned their hopes on signing Fabio Borini in a £14 million deal from Liverpool but that transfer now looks in doubt as AC Milan have also shown interest in the young striker. This means Gus Poyet has been forced to look to other options.
A serious target for the Wearside club that has emerged is the ex-Chelsea forward Salomon Kalou. The Shield’s Gazette reports that Sunderland have already made an enquiry for the Lille player and could acquire his services for as little as £3 million.
On Tuesday the forward confirmed that his future at Lille is in doubt and that he could be open to a move back to The Premier League, giving fresh hope to the North East side that a deal could be pushed through.
Sunderland would face tough competition to land the talented forward. The 29-year-old has attracted interest from Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham in England along with Borussia Monchengladbach.
The lure of being a star player at Sunderland though and a guarantee of regular first team football may prove to be decisive in Gus Poyet ensuring that the Ivory Coast man moves to the North East.
While Kalou has never been prolific in front of goal, he still is a talented finisher who can find the net regularly. Spells at Feyenoord and Lille have seen him score 80 times in 170 appearances in all competitions. His goal scoring record at Chelsea was not as impressive, but he was largely deployed on the flanks there rather than as a central striker.
Regardless, Sunderland would do well to land such an established player and he would undoubtedly score goals for them and could help them avoid another relegation scrap this season.
