Sunderland are stepping up their efforts to sign Manchester United's Ethan Galbraith, according to reports.
The Northern Echo claims that the Black Cats have signalled their interest in the 20-year-old midfielder.
The central midfielder is highly thought of at Old Trafford having made his senior debut in a Europa League game against Astana back in 2019.
Galbraith signed a new deal at Old Trafford in October last season and is expected to leave United in order to get some senior experience under his belt.
Despite not being able to break into the first team, Galbraith is already a full Northern Ireland international after getting his first international cap in a friendly with Luxembourg in 2019.
He was a regular with the club’s Under-23s last season as the Red Devils finished eighth in PL2 last season, making 17 appearances and scoring three times.
Lee Johnson's side are among a number of League One clubs to have expressed an interest in the Northern Irishmen, but will face competition from the Championship for his signature.
Speaking about potential incoming transfers and the quiet transfer market, the Black Cats head coach said: "A lot of it is the market and what the market constitutes.
"We are hopefully now at the back end of the pandemic, but a lot of Championship clubs are the ones that have been hit the most.
"Funnily enough, a lot of League One clubs seem to be going for it this year and there's a fair bit of money flying about in League One, so that will be interesting and it will probably be more competitive than it has ever been.
"At the same time, our challenge is to go and recruit to win the league, it is as simple as that.
"These are the sleepless nights that you have, but they are also full of hope and also that football IQ that allows you to streamline financially but get the best team possible for that.
"We're working really hard, there are a lot of new people at the football club with the sporting director Kristjaan, James in data, Stewart in recruitment, the coaches, and we all have to get to know each other extremely quickly.
"I have really enjoyed being a part of building that backstory over the summer, but it hasn't left me with a holiday!"
