Sunderland, Newcastle Lead £34M Defender, Midfielder Transfer Race

Sunderland has been very active in the transfer market, spending around £100 million on six new signings and focusing on strengthening their defense and midfield after selling key players. They secured Armand Lauriente from Sassuolo for £17.3 million and are pursuing Lille centre-back Bafode Diakite, although their offer was rejected, with the club president seeking a £34.7 million package. Sunderland is also interested in Bologna's Jhon Lucumi, Napoli's Frank Zambo Anguissa—who also has Chelsea interest—and Bayer Leverkusen's Granit Xhaka, a target also pursued by West Ham United, Nottingham Forest, and others. Additionally, Sunderland is linked with Cardiff City's Jack Sykes and continues to pursue midfield reinforcements like Bilal El Khannouss and Amir Richardson. West Ham has agreed to sign Kyle Walker-Peters and is competing with several Premier League clubs, including Sunderland, to sign Xhaka. Overall, Sunderland is aggressively pursuing multiple targets to bolster their squad with a clear ambition to return to Premier League competitiveness.