Sunderland's Lynden Gooch and Duncan Watmore have both been linked with a move to North East rivals Middlesbrough.
Watmore is out of contract this summer and the 26-year-old is bound to attract plenty of attention, particularly if the Black Cats fail to win promotion from League One, if and when the season is able to restart.
USA international Gooch has been one of Phil Parkinson's most consistent performers this season, scoring 10 goals in 33 appearances for Sunderland and becoming a vital part of their three-man attack.
However, TEAMtalk report this morning that both are on Middlesbrough boss Jonathan Woodgate's radar, with a potential double swoop for the duo on the cards.
And they claim a Boro insider feels the Teesside club are confident the appeal of staying in the North East will put them near the top of the queue of clubs interested in Watmore.
“Middlesbrough are considering a double raid on North East rivals Sunderland this summer with Duncan Watmore and Lynden Gooch in their sights," they report.
“Forward Watmore is out of contract at the Stadium of Light in the summer and if the Black Cats don’t get promotion, they will be unable to offer him a contract of Championship level, which he is currently on.
“Now, a Middlesbrough source has told TEAMtalk that a host of clubs are looking at taking the former England Under-21 star on a free transfer, but Boro hope the option of staying in the North-east could appeal.
“Boro also hope that the chance to remain in the area could help them in a bid to land Watmore’s team-mate Gooch, who has two years left on his current deal.
“Again, without promotion, Sunderland would struggle to reject any sort of reasonable offer for the Californian-born wide-man.”
However, Middlesbrough have relegation issues themselves and still face a battle to remain in the Championship, with a possibility that the two clubs could even swap places when the season restarts.
And Watmore has spoken recently about how the current coronavirus pandemic has put everything on hold.
"In terms of the contract, I think it is an interesting situation," he said.
“I think about half the Sunderland squad are out of contract on June 30 so I don't know how that's going to get resolved.
“I think it might just be a case of FIFA just bumping them along for a couple of months to complete the season, and if that's what happens then I'm sure it'll work well for everyone.
“But there's so much uncertainty around the whole world at the moment that you can't really be making predictions or planning for things - you've just got to deal with it on a day-by-day basis I suppose.”
