The Gossip: Keeping Track Of Every Rumoured Sunderland Transfer Target

Here at Roker Report we like to think that there is a little journalistic element to our coverage of Sunderland AFC. Not a lot, but some. All last season we produced a weekly column for an actual newspaper, and we have also built up some very good relations within the local sports press.

That said, for all the good ones, there is an element of the football press can often be rubbish, especially at this time of year. It didn't get its 'silly season' name for no reason. So just to highlight how silly it really is, we thought we'd keep a list of all the players linked with a move to Sunderland this summer and update it each Sunday over the summer.

So lets get started with a nice short list for week one and see where we end by the time the transfer window SLAMS shut! Because, that's what it does, nobody every carefully shuts it. Sky Sports said so...

So, yeah... week one... not that short a list. In the month since the season finished Sunderland have been linked with 33 players from just about everywhere between Chelsea and Chad. Here's each and everyone one of them for you in a handy list...

Steven Fletcher (Wolves)
Victor Moses (Wigan)
Stephen Ward (Wolves)
Aiden McGeady (Spartak Moscow)
Adam Johnson (Manchester City)
John Guidetti (Manchester City)
Wilifred Zaha (Crystal Palace)
Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa)
Karl Henry (Wolves)
Jay Rodriguez (Burnley)
Hassan Hissein (Foullah Edifice)
Manuel Fernandez (Besitkas)
Jorge Fucile (Porto)
Junior Hoilett (Blackburn Rovers)
Robert Huth (Stoke)
Liam Trotter (Millwall)
Mohamed Diame (Wigan)
Carlos Cuellar (Free Agent)
Steven N'Zonzi (Blackburn)
Bjorn Bergmann Sigurdarson (Lillestrom)
Grant Holt (Norwich)
Jese (Real Madrid Castilla)
Steven Pienaar (Tottenham)
Danny Guthrie (Newcastle)
Joselu (Real Madrid Castilla)
Matt Jarvis (Wolves)
Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea)
Matt Phillips (Blackpool)
Zak Whitbread (Free Agent)
Steven Warnock (Aston Villa)
Moussa Kone (Atalanta)
Ola John (FC Twente)
Pavel Pogrebnyak (Stuttgart)

Quite the rabble, I'm sure you'll agree! Some will be legitimate, some will be an honest enough lead that hasn't panned out, some will just be pure make-believe. I am not entirely convinced that Martin O'Neill has really spent that much time studying Foullah Edifice of the Chad Premier League, but make up your own minds.

From the list, two players have already moved on and can be taken out of contention, if indeed they ever were serious transfer targets. Ola John has signed for Benfica, while Junior Hoilett has of course signed for Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach. Shame, I'd like to have seen us in for Hoilett, he could have been superb with McClean and Sessegnon behind A.N. Other in attack.

Anyway, the lesson would seem to be to take media transfer talk with a sizable pinch of salt, if you didn't do so already. We'll see you next weekend for the first update!