Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock says he is looking at doing swap deals for players such as Blues target Hayden Coulson.
The 23-year-old is surplus to requirements at the Riverside with Town keen to bring him to Portman Road, while Sunderland have more recently been linked.
Asked about players moving on, specifically Coulson, Chuba Akpom and Lewis Wing, Warnock told the Sunderland Echo that he is looking at potential swaps as he tries to add to his squad.
"I’m more concerned with players, you talk about Coulson and Wingy, it’s players I want,” he said.
"I’m trying to do more with swapping players than I am with letting players go, because we just haven’t got enough bodies at the moment.”
Boro are one of the many Championship clubs to have been linked with wantaway Blues midfielder Flynn Downes, although there has been no confirmation of their interest.
Quizzed on where he is looking to strengthen, Warnock said: "I think everybody knows I’m looking for strikers but it’s amazing what crops up later on.
"We’ve got a couple in the pipeline that we’d like to if we could agree with the clubs, we are a little bit away from agreeing at the moment. Things can change.
"I’m glad I’ve got four in but you’ve seen how thin we are really so it’s just a matter of being patient and trying to get the ones you want in.”
Gateshead-born Coulson came through the ranks at Boro before spending time out on loan at St Mirren and Cambridge United, both in 2018/19.
Coulson, who also plays wide on the left, broke into the Teessiders’ first team at the start of 2019/20 and has now gone on to make 28 starts and 21 sub appearances, scoring once.
He is contracted to Boro until 2023, however, with his involvement having been limited last season he is expected to move on this summer.
Town have already signed one left-back this summer, Matt Penney, who joined after leaving Sheffield Wednesday, but with Stephen Ward having been released at the end of the season and Myles Kenlock among those told he can move on this summer, and currently training with the U23s, the addition of a second left-sided full-back has looked on the cards.