Sunderland completing deals for Romaine Mundle and Alex Pritchard

Within the next 24 hours, it will be a “one in, one out” situation for

Sunderland, as Alex Pritchard completes his own permanent move to Birmingham

City and Romaine Mundle is about to go through a medical.

 

Mundle is the second player the Black Cats have signed this month during the

transfer window, coming in after Leo Kjelde through the front door. Club

officials are still hoping to sign a forward before tomorrow night’s 11pm deadline.

 

With add-ons, the transaction may be worth up to £2 million. Sunderland and

Mundle’s present employers, Standard Liege, have reached an agreement

wherein Sunderland will pay an upfront fee of slightly over £1 million.

According to the Belgian media, the agreement does not contain a sell-on

provision, which might be advantageous to Sunderland in the long run if the 20-

year-old performs as expected while on Wearside.

With Mundle’s medical scheduled for later today and the arrangements of his personal return to England arranged, the

transfer ought to be finished well in advance of tomorrow’s deadline.

Mundle was expected to achieve great things in north London after signing his

first professional deal with Tottenham in 2021 after rising through the Premier League team’s system.

 

He was included in several senior matchday squads, but before making his

first-team debut last summer, he declined Spurs’ offer of a new contract and moved to Standard Liege.

 

He has six top-flight substitute appearances under his belt for Liege in

Belgium, but he has chosen to return to England in an effort to advance his career.

Swansea City and Stoke City both held discussions over a possible deal, but

Sunderland were the only team to reach a financial agreement with the Standard

Liege hierarchy. Provided there are no unforeseen hiccups, Mundle should be

available to make his Sunderland debut in Sunday’s Tees-Wear derby against

Middlesbrough if Michael Beale opts to promote him straight into the squad.

 

A winger who can play on either flank, or also as a ‘number ten’ if required,

Mundle effectively replaces Pritchard, who has been given permission to travel

to Birmingham to complete a permanent move to St Andrew’s.

 

Pritchard is set to sign a two-and-a-half year deal with the Blues, and will be reunited with former Sunderland boss

Tony Mowbray, who replaced Wayne Rooney as Birmingham boss earlier this month.

 

The 30-year-old came close to leaving the Stadium of Light in the summer, and

refused to sign the one-year contract extension he was offered on Wearside during this month’s transfer window.

 

He refused to be considered for selection for last weekend’s home win over Stoke

City, and Sunderland have accepted a six-figure fee to move him on.

 

Once Mundle’s arrival is confirmed, attention will switch to the Black Cats’

ongoing attempts to sign a striker in the final two days of the window.

 

Sunderland continue to hold discussions with Bournemouth over Kieffer Moore,

but like a number of other Championship clubs, they are struggling to meet the Cherries’ current financial demands.

 

Moore joined Bournemouth in a £5m move from Cardiff City in January 2022,

and is believed to be earning significantly more than Sunderland’s current highest earner.

 

While he has been on the fringe of Andoni Iraola’s first-team squad in the last couple of months, he is keen to leave

the Vitality Stadium in order to safeguard his place in the Wales squad

for March’s European Championship play-offs, and potentially at this

summer’s finals in Germany if Wales make it through.

 

Iraola is happy to grant his request to leave on loan, but Bournemouth want to

recoup as much of his wages as possible, which is complicating attempts to engineer a deal.

 

Cardiff City and Ipswich Town have both held discussions with the Bournemouth

hierarchy over Moore but, like Sunderland, are struggling to come up with an acceptable financial package.

 

The Black Cats have once again been linked with a possible loan move for Amad Diallo in the last 24 hours, but as

has been the case throughout the transfer window, Manchester United’s

current stance is that they do not want the Ivorian forward to leave this month.