Matija Sarkic has joined Wolves on a free transfer, but his move does not necessarily end Sunderland's interest.
Sarkic is one of many goalkeepers that Sunderland have looked at ahead of the summer transfer window, as they look to replace Jon McLaughlin who departed to join Scottish giants Rangers.
The Black Cats do already have a ready-made number one at the club in Lee Burge, and manager Phil Parkinson has been clear that whoever joins this summer will be competing with the ex-Coventry City shot-stopper and shouldn't expect to walk straight into the team at the Stadium of Light.
Montenegro international Sarkic, 23, left Aston Villa this summer at the end of his contract, citing a lack of first-team opportunities as the reason behind his decision to leave.
But in joining Midlands rivals Wolves, it has been made clear that their plan is to loan him out for the upcoming season to gain more first-team experience. He signed a three-year deal.
In the announcement of the signing, Wolves chairman, Jeff Shi, said: “We are very happy to welcome Matija, who is a promising young goalkeeper with lots of potential. We hope that he will be a success at Wolves and with his loan club next season.”
That means that despite Sarkic's move elsewhere, Sunderland's interest is not necessarily over, providing they see value in a temporary loan move, rather than a free transfer.
Sunderland do have their own bright young goalkeeper on their books in Anthony Patterson, who many believe has an extremely bright future. But the plan as of now is to loan him out to gain his own first-team experience.
Sarkic spent the first half of last season on loan at Livingston, keeping seven clean sheets in 18 appearances, including one against Celtic. Despite being recalled in January, he still did enough to win Livi's directors and coaches young player of the year award.
