Sunderland still have glimmer of hope in reported attempts to sign Graeme Shinnie

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Sunderland have been linked with Aberdeen’s Graeme Shinnie.

Sunderland were busy in the January transfer window, but one player should still be a target for Jack Ross ahead of the summer window.

The Black Cats landed Jimmy Dunne, Grant Leadbitter, Lewis Morgan, Kazaiah Sterling and Will Grigg in an impressive window, given Ross the tools to try and push for promotion.

Intriguingly though, another player was linked with the club as The Scottish Sun claimed that Sunderland made an approach to Aberdeen’s Graeme Shinnie about a pre-contract deal, but he was set for Wigan instead.

However, Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes then told BBC Sport just a day later that there was nothing in the story, with the Dons still harbouring hopes of keeping him at Pittodrie.

McInnes told Sky Sports yesterday that Aberdeen are hoping to agree a new deal with Shinnie, but are delaying new talks until after the next couple of games.

This sequence of events at least gives Sunderland some renewed hope that they could land Shinnie’s signature, though they may need to move quickly.

Aberdeen are fighting hard to keep him and it remains to be seen whether those Wigan links amount to anything, so Sunderland need to seize the opportunity and make a new offer.

Shinnie, 27, would be a versatile option for Sunderland at left back in central midfielder, whilst Ross will be more than familiar with the Scotland international from his time north of the border, and landing a pre-contract agreement before the end of the season would be a real statement of intent for next season.