Town striker Connor Wickham is set to undergo a medical at Sunderland in the next 24 hours. The Blues and the Black Cats have spent the day in talks after the Premier League club offered a fee of £9 million plus a further £4 million in additional clauses based on appearances and achievements.
While last night’s tabloid report claiming that the Blues had accepted the offer slightly jumped the gun, it now increasingly appears that a deal is close to being concluded and we understand that the player is in the North-East this evening.
Despite previous suggestions from manager Paul Jewell that Wickham might not be interested in signing for one of the Premier League’s lesser lights, if a deal has been agreed with the Wearsiders and no other late offers are forthcoming, it’s difficult to see the Hereford-born frontman turning the move down.
Sunderland have stolen a march on the likes of Liverpool, the club Wickham supported as a boy, Spurs and Arsenal by firming up their interest in the England U21 international, making a bid which would make him the most expensive player to have moved from the Championship to the Premier League without previous experience in the top flight.
In 2006 Theo Walcott made the switch from Southampton to Arsenal for a fee which, after a renegotiation in 2008, eventually totalled £9 million, having initially been set at £12 million including clauses.
The deal would also make Wickham Town’s most expensive sale, smashing the £6.5 million Newcastle paid the Blues for Kieron Dyer in the summer of 1999.