The Gossip: Dutchman Joins List Of Alleged Sunderland Striker Targets

The transfer window is officially open! Not that the FA's player registry office not actually being open for business stopped the media linking dozens of names with the club over the past month or so, of course.

This summer, we have been keeping track of the names that have been alleged to have caught Martin O'Neill's imperious gaze, with quite spectacular results really.

So, onwards with the latest update.

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 Fernandes (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)
Ola Toivonen (PSV)
Alvaro Vazquez (Espanyol)
Yoan Gouffran (Bordeaux)
Luis Saha (Free Agent)
Keith Andrews (Free Agent)
Abdou Kader Mangane (Rennes)
Ibrahima Balde (Osasuna)
Kevin Doyle (Wolves)
Kevin Mirallas (Olympiakos)
Burak Yilmaz (Trabzonspor)
Martin Olsson (Blackburn)
Siake Tiene (PSG)
Sylvain Armand (PSG)
Ricky Van Wolfswinkel (Sporting Lisbon)

Just the four fresh names this week which takes us up to a pretty ridiculous 47. Of those four, however, three of them are left backs, which may be indicative that O'Neill is looking to finally end our search for what Brian Clough once described as 'those rarest of breeds'. According the French press, Sylvain Armand, an experienced defender who has fallen foul of the seemingly endless investment in Paris Saint-Germain, has even visited the Academy of Light this summer.

It has also been claimed that Martin Olsson has handed in a transfer request at Blackburn, although there appears little tangible link with Sunderland at this stage. It could merely be a case of a club who is expected to sign a left back being linked with one who is expected to move on.

It hasn't been all defenders, though. Sunderland have barely been able to get through a week without being linked with a new striker, and this week is no different. This time, Sporting Lisbon's Dutch forward Ricky van Wolkfswinkel is the lucky man and, quite frankly, we think his name alone is worth a considerable transfer fee.

One man who looks increasingly likely to arrive at Sunderland is Carlos Cuellar. The former Rangers man looked to have slipped through O'Neill's grasp a couple of weeks ago but now is widely reported to be close to becoming the club's first summer arrival.

Keith Andrews, however, has tootled off to Bolton, so much to the relief of many I suspect we can cross him off our list.

We'll see you next week. In the meantime, keep watching the Sky! (Sports News)