Sunderland’s Josh Maja is being strongly linked with Celtic and West Ham United.
Sunderland are into the semi-finals of the Checkatrade Trophy after beating Manchester City Under-21’s 2-0 at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday.
However, they had to do it without striker Josh Maja, who was officially ruled out of the game with a calf injury picked up against Scunthorpe United on Saturday.
Yet many will wonder whether Maja’s absence may be a nod to some sort of transfer activity given the confusion over his future.
Maja, 20, is out of contract at the end of the season, and has made it clear that he won’t be extending his stay on Wearside – but that may be more of an agent decision.
Regardless, Maja has hit 15 goals in 25 League One games this season, so he is unsurprisingly attracting major interest during this month’s transfer window.
New rumours this week have suggested a loan plan may be possible for two teams. The Scottish Sun note that Celtic could sign Maja and loan him back to Sunderland, whilst The Sunderland Echo state West Ham want Maja, and then loan him out for 18 months.
Intriguingly, Maja’s agent Eddie Bonsu took to Twitter last night to post a cryptic, contemplative tweet potentially hinting at movement for his youngster.
Some Sunderland fans even got hope that Bonsu’s tweet was a hint that Maja was performing a U-turn and staying at the Stadium of Light, but that seems unlikely.
Bonsu’s tweet may mean little, but with so many rumours about Maja right now, it certainly seems to be hinting towards that situation, and we will now see whether anything concrete emerges for the young striker.
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