Sunderland to rival Burnley in deadline day striker pursuit | OneFootball

The Black Cats have been after a centre-forward all summer.

Sunderland are preparing to challenge Burnley by launching a late bid for their Lyon striker Gift Orban.

The Nigerian attacker is said to be the next of a number of nines that Regis Le Bris and his team have cast their eye on in recent months, with Sunderland Nation reporting that the club are going to make a move for him.

Sunderland have already missed out on multiple striker targets this summer. Alexandre Mendy was one that they chased for much of the summer, but he has been convinced to stay with French side Caen rather than move to the North East of England.

Roko Simic was another. He is now set to officially join Cardiff City and then be sent on loan straight away.

In these late stages of the transfer window, the Black Cats are keeping multiple plates spinning at once as they try and hunt down a centre-forward. Orban is just one of those many plates.

Sunderland target Gift Orban

The 22-year-old is set to be the subject of a Sunderland offering on the final day of the window, according to Sunderland Nation.

The French market is one that the Black Cats know well, and they are looking to use their links on the other side of the channel to get this deal done.

Sunderland Nation added that Orban is the club's number one option of all their striker targets. He has struggled since joining Lyon, only scoring one goal in 13 appearances in Ligue 1 last season.

They will face competition for the player, though, as Burnley and Southampton have also been linked with Orban, who joined Lyon for €14 million in January.

Le Bris is expecting a couple of new faces to arrive at the Stadium of Light before 11pm tonight. A midfield duo consisting of Milan Aleksic and Salis Abdul Samed are expected to join the club ahead of tonight's deadline, further bolstering the French coach's options in the middle of the park.

Even though adding in this area of the pitch is good, additions up top remain the priority for Sunderland today.

Sunderland should throw caution to the wind in striker pursuit

This is the only real position that the Black Cats are lacking in. Maybe in the wings after Jack Clarke's departure, but they have more than adequate cover in Romain Mundle.

After a very strong start to the season, this is the time to try and capitalise on that momentum and bring in a centre-forward.

The logical strategy would usually be to not panic buy and spend money unnecessarily. But Sunderland have the cash to be able to take that risk. Better to chance it than leave yourself wondering what could have been.