The latest news on Sunderland's transfer hunt for another striker after the Black Cats saw a bid for Matija Frigan rejected.
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00:00 Indeed, Phil, the player on the name of most Sunderland fans' lips over the past couple
00:05 of days was Matthijs Friggen. There was a report suggesting that Sunderland had put
00:11 in a £3.4 million bid. It looks like a side in Belgium have beaten Sunderland to the punch
00:18 on that side, with reports suggesting that he has set for a medical over there. So it's
00:23 clear that Sunderland are active in the Stryker hunt and the Stryker transfer market. However,
00:32 we know they were active in January and they tried very hard for Nemeth. They didn't get
00:35 that particular target. I guess the key difference this window will have to be actually closing
00:41 one of these deals. Yeah, for sure. I mean, they've closed one, haven't they? To be fair
00:47 in Jeméa. Yeah, I think what we're seeing is it's obviously the situation is probably
00:52 a little bit fluid in terms of Stewart. I think what seems pretty obvious is they do
00:57 want to invest in another Stryker if they can, regardless of what happens with Stewart.
01:02 And when we spoke to him over a week or so ago, he said that loans were definitely a
01:07 possibility later in the window, but that primarily someone still pushing to sign their
01:12 own players to make permanent deals. I think, you know, given what you've just outlined
01:16 there, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that they are trying to sign another
01:19 Stryker for a permanent deal. And then I suppose after that, it would then become dependent
01:25 on what happened with Stewart. And maybe if you felt you need another Stryker at the end
01:30 of the window, you could then dip into the loan market. But I think it's pretty obvious
01:34 that they are pushing pretty hard to try and sign another Stryker on a permanent deal.
01:39 And given that we know they operate, I would imagine it to be a young player and potentially
01:44 someone who we hadn't heard of before. So I still think that's kind of the plan A, if
01:49 you like. And I still think that's what they'll be working towards in the near future. But
01:53 as Joe kind of alluded to, Stewart remains a bit of an enigma at the moment. And to be
01:58 honest, as frustrating as it is, I don't think we'll get much clarity on that for a good
02:02 while yet, because until he's fully fit, I don't think it works for anyone to be having
02:08 serious discussions about his future. So I think that one's going to be a little bit
02:12 of a waiting game, unfortunately. But I think that also puts the pressure on Sunderland,