Sunderland are in the market for a new striker, with one of their youngest prospects Joel Asoro set to move from Wearside to join Swansea.
Sunderland are in the market for a striker to fill the void that looks likely to be left by their 19-year-old Swedish attacker who looks set to join Welsh side Swansea City in the coming days.
The Black Cats have struggled for striking options in recent seasons and goals have been at a premium, most notably after former striker Jermain Defoe left the club when the Wearsider’s were relegated from the Premier League in the 2016/17 campaign.
And, with new owner Stewart Donald looking to cut costs in order to get the club back on its feet financially, where better for new manager Jack Ross to look for attacking options than the lower leagues?
Tranmere Rovers recently won the Vanarama National League play-off final, gaining promotion to League Two, with James Norwood spearheading many of their attacks in non-league.
And the 27-year-old could be the perfect signing for Sunderland, with his low wages, likely small transfer fee and most importantly his clear ability to score goals as a striker.
Norwood has been scoring goals in the lower league’s of English football since 2011, where he played for Forest Green Rovers, making 149 appearances and scoring 49 goals.
The former Crystal Palace youth player moved to Tranmere in 2015 and has scored 53 goals in 120 appearances, with his most impressive season coming last time out, when the player was instrumental in his team’s promotion to League Two.
There are plenty of examples of players who have worked their way up from the lower league’s of English football, including Jamie Vardy of England and Leicester City, another suggestion as to why giving Norwood his opportunity at Sunderland could be a smart move for the Black Cats.
Norwood scored 23 goals last season for Tranmere, netting a goal every 163 minutes. The striker certainly passes the stamina test needed for a long season in the lower leagues, having played 3746 minutes last term.
Norwood may not be one of the more eye-catching transfers that Sunderland fans are hopeful of for their League One season, but the player certainly has an eye for the goal, something that would soon win the Sunderland faithful over.
And, as a player who will likely go under the radar in this summer’s transfer window, Sunderland should certainly look at preparing a bid Tranmere and Norwood simply could not reject ahead of their return to the big time.
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