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FC Zurich defender Loris Benito has emerged as a Sunderland target as the seemingly perpetual left back hunt goes on.
Despite an early start this summer it has been a long old slog to replace Danny Rose, with lengthy pursuits for Lucas Orban and Benjamin Mendy ending in frustration.
That has prompted a fresh list of targets to be drawn up. Valencia's Aly Cissokho is a target, though the belief seems to be that it would not be an entirely straight-forward deal to complete.
Whether or not Switzerland Under-21 international Benito is considered a primary or secondary target is not known, but he is certainly a name under consideration, even to the point that Sunderland have made their interest known to his club.
He does have the rather curious distinction of once being bitten on the field by a rampaging beech marten, which is quite funny. On the plus side, however, he did show a pretty impressive turn of pace to catch the little blighter in the first place.
Meanwhile, reports in Norway claim that Sunderland had a scout present at Strømsgodset IF over the weekend apparently to cast their eye over Stefan Johansen. The midfielder - nicknamed 'the Norwegian Modric' - is an elegant and creative left-footed player and would certainly fit the 'bring the keys to the house' criteria laid out by Paolo Di Canio.
No news yet on how serious a target, if at all, Johansen is, but an interesting snippet nonetheless.