Sunderland are interested in signing two free-agent strikers this summer according to reports; Blackburn Rovers’ Danny Graham and A-League top scorer Adam Le Fondre.
At the age of 34 and 33 respectively, it would be easy to suggest that both Graham and Le Fondre are well past their peak. But, even as they creep towards the autumn of a fine career, a pair of veteran centre-forwards still have a lot more to offer.
Teeside-born Graham helped Blackburn finish in a respectable top-half position in the Championship last season after all.
The one-time Middlesbrough youngster remains as effective a targetman as you will find in the Football League, even if he is far from the most prolific ‘number nine’ in the game.
The Sun (26 July, page 63) reports that Sunderland are interested in offering Graham a return to his native north east – even if a previous spell at the Stadium of Light did not exactly go to plan.
The 34-year-old found the net just once in 37 Premier League games in Sunderland colours between 2013 and 2016.
But the Black Cats, it seems, are willing to overlook that most miserable of spells as they put plans in place for a squad capable of finally securing a return to the Championship.
But if it is a prolific goalscorer Sunderland need, then who better than Le Fondre?
As reported by the Mail, a former Reading and Rotherham United talisman could be heading back to England after scoring a remarkable 18 goals in 22 games for A-League outfit Sydney FC this season.
League One rivals Portsmouth are also interested in Le Fondre, an instinctive, penalty-box poacher who remains as lethal as ever from inside the 18 yard area.
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