TRANSFER LATEST: Sunderland’s top target Charlie Wyke will miss between 4-6 weeks through injury

Sunderland target Charlie Wyke suffered a knee injury just eight minutes into Bradford’s friendly with Sheffield United last week, and though very little has been said about how long he’ll be missing for we believe that the initial prognosis is that he’ll be out for at least a month.

That has been something of a blow to Sunderland, who are incredibly keen to sign the former Carlisle United forward, but it won’t deter them from pursuing Wyke - nor will it any of the other clubs who remain interested in securing his services.

Bradford’s asking price is believed to be in the region of £1m, and it’s thought that Sunderland submitted an amended offer over the weekend having had their last approach rejected.

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Bolton Wanderers are Sunderland’s toughest competition for Wyke, and in an interview following their draw at the weekend with Girona their manager Phil Parkinson refused to name the player he was targeting - but did allude to the fact that it’s someone that has already been mentioned in the wider media.

He said:

The key area is the top of the pitch. We need more strength. Ken (Anderson) is waiting to hear back from one or two chairmen and we need to make progress in that area.

At the start of the summer we gave the chairman a list of strikers that we thought were realistic and he asked me which one was at the very top of that list. I don’t want to discuss the name – I’m sure it’s documented – but we’re going for that one.

Alan Nixon from the Sun reported this weekend that Wigan Athletic are also keen on the player, and are looking to raise funds in order to try and join the race for Wyke’s signature.

Whilst Sunderland are the biggest of the three clubs interested in signing Wyke, the fact both Bolton and Wigan can offer the player Championship football next season makes working out where he might end up difficult to call - though with neither club exactly flush with cash, just making Bradford the best possible offer should be enough to get him.