Reports: Sunderland Bid For Brighton Pair

Liam Bridcutt is a name that has been consistently linked with to the Stadium of Light since Gus Poyet was appointed as Head Coach and, according to reports in tomorrow's newspapers, he has been the subject of a £2,500,000 bid from Sunderland tonight.

The 24-year-old Scottish international was a vital member of Poyet's Brighton & Hove Albion team and played a similar holding role in their midfield as Lee Cattermole and Ki Sung-Yueng have for Sunderland. Poyet is such a big fan of Bridcutt in that position that he said earlier in the year that the player could even hold his own for Real Madrid;

If I was coach of Real I would take him because he deserves to go to the highest level.

As a holding midfielder, there is no better player in the division.

The best thing about Liam is that he understands me to an incredible level. The way he understands what I want from him is spectacular.

The player himself stated earlier this month that he would find it hard to turn down a move to a Premier League club, saying;

Without a doubt I've always said I want to be a Premier League player,

It would be even better if I can do it with Brighton, but if there is an opportunity for me to do it with another club I think it is going to be hard for me to turn it down.

Whether £2.5m is enough to tempt Brighton to sell a player they rejected a £1.75m bid from Crystal Palace in the summer remains to be seen but there is no doubt that Poyet's interest in Bridcutt is real.

Meanwhile, the same reports linking us with the bid for Bridcutt also claim we are showing interest in QPR winger Shaun Wright-Phillips, which is slightly more difficult to believe given his age, contract level, and current Sunderland transfer policy.

However, a slightly more believable link with reinforcements on the wing is Bridcutt's Brighton teammate Will Buckley. The generally excellent John Percy is the man with that story, so we think it is generally worth taking seriously. See below for a video of Buckley in action.

Looks like it's all-go for January then. We'll do our best to keep up with it all!

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