Sunderland are exploring whether a move for Leicester winger Abdul Fatawu is viable as the newly promoted side look to continue their spending spree.
The 21-year-old Ghana international is one of the Foxes’ most valuable assets, reportedly valued at about £30m.
The Black Cats have held preliminary talks to formalise their interest but no bid has been made yet amid concern that a move could be too costly or difficult to complete.
Sunderland have already spent £141.5m in the transfer window, which is just short of Nottingham Forest’s £142m in the summer of 2022, a British record for a promoted club.
Their latest signing was the £9.5m acquisition of Paris St-Germain defender Nordi Mukiele, adding to deals for former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka, winger Simon Adingra from Brighton and club-record signing Habib Diarra, who cost about £30m from Strasbourg.
Fatawu joined Leicester from Sporting Lisbon, initially on loan, and helped them win the Championship title in 2024.
He made a permanent move before their return to the top flight after Leicester triggered an option to buy him but missed the majority of the 2024-25 season with a serious knee injury.
Now back in the Championship, Leicester have sold goalkeeper Mads Hermansen to West Ham for about £20m, Wilfred Ndidi joined Besiktas for £9m and Conor Coady moved to Wrexham for £2m.
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