Sunderland have reportedly agreed a fee with Manchester United to sign defenders Paddy McNair and Donald Love as David Moyes swoops at his former club.
The former United boss has a rebuilding job on his hands this summer having arrived at the Stadium of Light to replace new England boss Sam Allardyce.
Given that the club narrowly escaped relegation last season, Moyes will hope to improve where possible and mastermind their ascent up the Premier League table in his first campaign in charge.
According to Sky Sports, he’ll look to bring in McNair and Love to bolster his squad, with initial £5m and £1m fees being agreed respectively for the defensive duo.
McNair’s fee could in fact rise to £7m with add-ons as part of his four-year deal to take him to the north east, while it’s added in the report that the pair will undergo medicals on Wednesday.
Naturally, there will be a sense of disappointment for some United supporters to see two young stars leave the club, but evidently they don’t feature in Jose Mourinho’s plans as the Portuguese tactician has other options at his disposal.
Having signed Eric Bailly from Villarreal earlier this summer, Luke Shaw will also hope to stake his claim for a regular place in the starting line-up after recovering from injury to join the likes of Chris Smalling and Antonio Valencia in Mourinho’s preferred backline.
The United boss has spent heavily this summer to turn the club into contenders, and as the squad continues to look stronger, time will tell as to whether or not it leads to success as the ‘Special One’ looks to stamp his identity on the group.