Sheffield Wednesday join Preston North End, Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers in Everton striker chase | OneFootball

Everton striker Tom Cannon is set to be one of the most hotly-pursued players in the Championship this summer thanks to his exploits with Preston North End in the second half of last season.

After three appearances for the Toffees' first-team last season, Cannon was sent to Deepdale for the second half of the 2022-23 campaign on loan, where after a slow start he netted eight times in 20 league appearances.

There has been much anticipation though on what Everton and Sean Dyche decide to do regarding the youngster this summer, with a queue of clubs lining up to sign Cannon - he appeared in a pre-season friendly in Switzerland for the Merseyside club over a week ago but missed their latest fixtures with a hamstring issue.

What is the transfer latest on Tom Cannon?

Preston North End of course are in the race to land Cannon again and he remains their number-one target for the summer despite already signing Will Keane and Layton Stewart as attacking options.

Sunderland however have been plotting to rival the Lilywhites and they want to take Cannon off the Toffees' hands on a permanent basis, with the Black Cats said to be readying a £3 million plus add-ons offer for the 20-year-old, per Alan Nixon.

linked with Cannon, but it looks as though Jon Dahl Tomasson's side cannot sign anyone - whether that be on loan or permanently - until they sell a player.

According to reports in the North East from The Northern Echo, Cannon is poised to re-join PNE on a season-long loan after being in attendance for their match against Aberdeen on Saturday, despite Everton having two matches that afternoon that he did not go to watch.

An agreed deal may not be as clear-cut as that for North End though despite his appearance at Deepdale at the weekend, with Nixon suggesting that Everotn have not yet decided on his future still - and another club are set to enter the running for his signature.

According to Simon Jones of the Daily Mail in his Transfer Confidential column, Sheffield Wednesday are now set to join the race to try and land the Republic of Ireland youth international this summer.

The Owls were close to landing him back in the January transfer window in what would have been his first loan spell away from Goodison Park, according to Alan Nixon, but PNE swooped for his services and he ended up flourishing in the Championship.

Now a second tier club themselves, Wednesday look to be one of many potential suitors for Cannon, who looks likely to be allowed to depart if Everton get another striker in and they are in advanced discussions to land Almeria forward El Bilal Toure.