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According to reports coming out of South America last night, Sunderland have started negotiations for Club Atlético Tigre defender Lucas Orban.
The 24-year-old left back is attracting interest following some fine performances for the Buenos Aires club, with Boca Juniors and Villareal also said to have joined the Black Cats in the hunt.
Any potential move to Boca appears to be a non-starter however, considering their great rivals River Plate - Orban's former club - still retain a stake in the player, whilst Villareal could find it difficult to commit to transfer business with the fate of their promotion bid still not yet decided.
That may have opened the door for Sunderland to steal a march and reporters close to Tigre insist that a bid - albeit an 'unsatisfactory' one - from Wearside has been made for the player. Orban holds a Spanish passport so there would be no work permit complications.
Whilst Paolo Di Canio's need to add full backs to his threadbare squad is clear, even if these reports prove accurate an interest in Orban is unlikely to impact the expected summer pursuit to bring Tottenham full back Danny Rose back to the Stadium of Light.
Instead, this would appear to be part of the new policy implemented by incoming Italian duo Roberto De Fanti and Valentino Angeloni of identifying emerging talent across the globe and developing them over time. It would be difficult to envisage the club going into the season relying upon an such a player.
What seems to add a little more weight to the link is that a couple of months ago he was strongly linked with a move to Inter Milan who, of course, boasted Valentino Angeloni as their chief scout.
An interesting link and one to watch out for over the coming weeks for further developments.