Lee Johnson's former club Bristol City have ruled themselves out of the running for Charlie Wyke, according to reports.
Bristol Live claims the Championship club is not pursuing the Black Cats number nine despite previous reports.
Wyke is yet to commit to a new deal on Wearside with negotiations still ongoing between the striker and the club.
The 28-year-old is one of four players to be retained by Johnson, alongside Luke O'Nien, Denver Hume and Aiden McGeady.
All four of those are yet to sign new deals with interest in them expected to be high this summer.
City are just one of a number of Championship clubs to have been linked with Wyke, after a stellar season in a red and white shirt.
His impressive 31 goals has seen him linked with a move to his hometown club Middlesbrough, Scottish giants Celtic and even Russian outfit CSKA Moscow.
Johnson has reiterated his desire to keep Wyke on Wearside this summer.
Earlier in the season he said: "Of course I would love to work with Charlie next season. Whether that is possible or not, I haven't got all the answers.
"What Charlie has is hopefully a good coach who trusts him, who believes in him, and who - along with the coaching staff and his teammates - has helped him get into a position where he is currently the second-top scorer in the league who has scored a number of goals and a number of different types of goals.
"Of all his goals, probably my favourite is his second goal the other day against Accrington - where he peeled into the blind spot and nipped across the near post and scored - because of the amount of work we have done on it, and on getting the timing right.
"He has improved as a player over the course of this season, there's no doubt about that, and he is grateful for that.
"Hopefully that will stand us in good stead when the club is ready to challenge for his contractual situation."
