Sunderland now face competition for one of their summer transfer targets.
Sunderland are desperately in need of a strong summer, following what’s been a rather miserable 2023/24 season.
Three managers have been at the helm and the Black Cats are now without one after Mike Dodds’ interim spell came to an end.
Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has plenty to do on that front whilst sporting director Kristjaan Speakman has pressure on his shoulders to provide the next Sunderland manager with some suitable new signings.
Several names have been linked with Sunderland ahead of the summer transfer window, with one being QPR man Chris Willock.
The former Arsenal and Benfica youngster sees his R’s contract expire this summer and Sunderland are said to be keen.
But they’re not alone in their admiration of the 26-year-old.
Norwich City join race for Sunderland transfer target
Alan Nixon has revealed the latest on Willock.
He wrote on Patreon that Championship play off contenders Norwich City are ‘planning talks’ with QPR about a ‘free transfer swoop’ for Willock this summer.
Nixon adds that Norwich are keen on signing Willock ‘whether they are promoted or not’.
The Canaries finished the 2023/24 season in 6th place of the Championship table and now face Leeds United over two legs in the play-off semi finals.
Sunderland meanwhile finished the season in 16th and only six points above the drop zone in the end, after Sheffield Wednesday won 2-0 at the Stadium of Light on the final day.
The problem Sunderland face in the transfer market this summer
Norwich City joining the race for Willock seems like bad news for Sunderland.
The Canaries may yet be able to offer him Premier League football; if not then they’ll be able to say that they finished this season strongly and they’ll be challenging again next year.
That’s more than can be said for Sunderland who were only ahead of Rotherham United for points earned in 2024.
The Black Cats fell off completely and they don’t even have a manager in place yet, so players like Willock who’ll have plenty of options may not look to fondly upon Sunderland right now.
That is unless they can bring in a manager soon, and one that goes down well with the fans.
We saw with the Michael Beale tenure that having a happy Sunderland fan base can have a huge impact on the results and so on, adding extra pressure on Louis-Dreyfus to get this next appointment right.
So for Sunderland, before they think about transfers, they need to hire a manager.
Once they get one in, they can then realistically start tempting players and selling them their vision for the future.
Right now though, persuading someone like Willock could prove tough.