Sunderland and Queens Park Rangers may re-enter the battle to sign out-of-contract Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida, according to an Italian transfer expert.
Free agent Hugo Almeida had been in talks with Serie A minnows Cesena, but the Emilia-Romagna outfit weren’t able to meet his wage demands.
The former Besiktas man is looking for a new club as quickly as possible but he wasn’t willing to lower his financial expectations.
Almeida spoke to Cesena, but the club were said to only be able to offer £550,000 plus bonuses, roughly half the sum the player asked for.
It is still possible that Almeida will consider taking a pay cut, but it has been suggested that QPR and Sunderland may re-enter the fray, hoping to secure a bargain.
The 30-year-old ended a three-year stay with Besiktas this summer where he scored 37 goals in 88 games. Prior to that he netted 36 in 89 for Werder Bremen after signing permanently following a loan spell in 2006-07.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox