Leo Hjelde could leave Sunderland - Sheffield United, QPR, Blackburn Rovers should eye moves | OneFootball

Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris has confirmed that Leo Hjelde could leave the club this summer before the deadline.

Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris has confirmed that an exit, either on-loan or permanently, for Norwegian defender Leo Hjelde is possible before the end of the window on 1 September.

Following Sunderland's promotion to the Premier League, the Black Cats have been far from shy in terms of spending money in the transfer market, having spent roughly £141.5 million on the likes of Habib Diarra, Chemsdine Talbi and Simon Adingra, to name a few.

Sunderland got off to the best possible start they could've asked for, defeating West Ham 3-0 at the Stadium of Light in their first Premier League game, with numerous new signings making an instant impact on their debuts.

Absent from the squad, however, was defender Hjelde, who, though he is currently out with an injury, Le Bris confirmed that an exit for Hjelde could come to fruition before the end of the window.

"Leo [Hjelde] made a really strong decision last year to help the team," said Le Bris.

"Even if he wasn't involved in many games during the training sessions, at the end he helped the squad. We can decide together whether he can find a solution to have more game time. If it's possible for him it could be useful for his career and for us later. We'll decide next week."

The Norwegian played in just 15 Championship games for the Black Cats last season as they achieved promotion via the play-offs, with only five of those being starts.

With an exit on the cards, FLW has taken a look at three EFL teams that could pick up the defender either permanently or on-loan before the window slams shut.

Sheffield United

Sheffield United have begun the season in the worst possible way, losing 4-1 at home in their opening fixture to Bristol City, losing 2-1 away to Birmingham City in the League Cup and 1-0 away to Swansea City in the league.

New boss Ruben Selles would have been hoping for a better beginning to his tenure, and has openly criticised the Blades business so far this summer.

Tyler Bindon, who worked with Selles at Reading, has joined on-loan for the season from Nottingham Forest, whilst Atalanta defender Ben Godfrey and Millwall's Japhet Tanganga have both been pursued by the club, with the former set to join on-loan.

Hjelde would add another option to a defence which has lost Anel Ahmedhodzic, Harry Souttar, Harry Clarke and Rob Holding since the end of last season, and would add a more defensive option at left-back to Harrison Burrows and Sam McCallum.

Queens Park Rangers

QPR are in the market for another defender, and have recently missed out on the signing of Rangers left-footed centre-back Ben Davies, who is set to complete a season-long loan move to Oxford United.

Both Jake Clarke-Salter and Jimmy Dunne are out with injuries until September, leaving Steve Cook and Liam Morrison as the clubs' only fit centre-backs.

The R's have focused their business on attacking areas so far this summer, with the permanent acquisitions of Kwame Poku, Richard Kone, Rumarn Burrell and Karamoko Dembélé.

Following a 1-1 draw at home to Preston North End on the opening day and a 2-1 defeat away to Watford last weekend, manager Julien Stephan will be setting his sights elsewhere on a new defensive option after losing out on Davies, with Hjelde being a potential option.

The Sunderland man is capable of operating both in central defence and at left-back, and would provide Stephan with a versatile option that could plug multiple gaps if and when called upon.

Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn, like Sheffield United, have begun the season losing all three of their games, having been defeated 1-0 by West Brom on the opening day, 2-1 at home to Bradford City in the League Cup and 2-1 at home to Birmingham after a stoppage-time winner courtesy of Lyndon Dykes.

Rovers currently have Sean McLoughlin, Dom Hyam, Scott Wharton and Lewis Miller as options for the centre-back role.

However, Hyam has just one year remaining on his current deal at Ewood Park and talks of a new deal are in deadlock, whilst Miller, who signed for the club this summer from Scottish side Hibernian, is best utilised as a right-back.