The Gossip: Sunderland Make 'Enquiry' About Uruguayan Midfielder

After a flourish of early transfer activity it appears that Sunderland have restored parity with the rest and find themselves in the same position as everyone else - four weeks to go, three or four more wanted.

Here is the updated list of players to be linked with the club this summer:

Valentin Roberge (Maritimo)
Mobido Diakite (Lazio)
Diogo Viana (F.C. Penafiel)
Danny Rose (Tottenham)
Emmanuel Cascione (Pescara)
Danilo D'Ambrosio (Torino)
El Hadji Ba (Le Havre)
Mauro Zarate (Lazio)
Bas Dost (Wolfsburg)
George Mandjeck (Auxerre)
Charlie Austin (Burnley)
Alfred Finnbogason (SC Heerenveen)
Greg Sandomierski (Genk)
Tom Allan (York City)
Salif Sane (Nancy)
Cabral (Basel)
Lucas Orban (Tigre)
Gary Hooper (Celtic)
Fraser Forster (Celtic)
Milos Krasic (Fenerbache)
Wilfried Bony (Vitesse)
Grant Holt (Norwich)
Andreas Weimann (Aston Villa)
Paulinho (Livorno)
Nacho Scocco (Al Ain)
Reto Ziegler (Juventus)
John Guidetti (Manchester City)
Josuha Guilavogui (Saint-Étienne)
Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli)
Luis Pedro Cavanda (Lazio)
Joseph Alfred Duncan (Inter Milan)
Alessandro Rosina (Siena)
Jonathan Biabiany (Parma)
Benjamin Mendy (Le Havre)
Scott Parker (Tottenham)
Johan Elmander (Galatassaray)
Abel Hernandez (Palermo)
Daniel Moberg Karlsson (IFK Göteborg)
Remi Gomis (Valenciennes)
Matej Vydra (Udinese)
Mejdi Traoui (Espérance de Tunis)
Jozy Altidore (AZ)
Jermain Defoe (Tottenham)
Vito Mannone (Arsenal)
Jérémie Aliadière (Lorient)
Jeroen Zoet (PSV)
Ibrahima MBaye (Inter)
Daniel Bessa (Inter)
Gino Peruzzi (Vélez Sarsfield)
Callum McManaman (Wigan)
Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham)
Kristoffer Nordfeldt (Heerenveen)
Matt Ritchie (Bournemouth)
Chung-yong Lee (Bolton)
Robert Acquafresca (Bologna)
Charis Mavrias (Panathinaikos)
Emanuele Giaccherini (Juventus)
Przemyslaw Tyton (PSV)
Maxi Lopez (Catania)
Innocent Emeghara (Lorient)
Bastian Oczipka (Eintract Frankfurt)
Christiano Biraghi (Inter)
Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli)
Aly Cissokho (Valencia)
Luca Marrone (Juventus)
Raul Meireles (Fenerbahce)
Emil Hallfreðsson (Chievo)
Frederik Sorensen (Bologna)
Jorge Flores (Tigres)
Fabio Daprelà (Brescia)
Libor Kozák (Lazio)
Julio Buffarini (San Lorenzo)
Manuel Fernandes (Besiktas)
Walter Gargano (Napoli)
John Boye (Rennes)
Jires Kembo (Al Ain)
Loris Benito (ZUrich)
Quincy Owusu-Abeyie (Panathinaikos)
Zdravko Kuzmanović (Inter)

So six new names this week taking our running total up to 79. Just to compare, when we finished this feature last year there was just 70 names on the list. Astonishing really.

The standout name this week was that of Napoli central midfielder Walter Gargano. The Uruguayan is a diminutive little battler with a great engine and a decent range of passing on him. He is 29 now, but with the signing of Emanuele Giaccherini Sunderland proved that age isn't necessarily a barrier this summer.

The generally credible Naples-based paper Il Mattino appears to be the source on this one, so it is worth taking note of. It has been claimed that an 'enquiry' has been made for the player and he was subsequently left out of Napoli's Emirates Cup squad, which did nothing but hurl even more fuel on the fire.

There is also the added point that Gargano was signed by Inter last season on loan - whilst new Sunderland chief scout Valentino Angeloni was hevaily involved in Nerazzurri recruitment.

Another member of Inter's midfield from last season to have been said to have caught Sunderland's eye is Zdravko Kuzmanovi. The story has been lingering for a little while but has really gathered pace this week, with fresh reports apparently originating in Croatia.

Whilst the Inter Milan connection is once again present, it should be noted that the player's agent is reported to have ruled out a switch, declaring it 'impossible'. Then again, Giaccherini's agent said the same thing. At this point, there appears to be no clear favourite for the much-mooted midfield reinforcements.

One man that we probably can rule out, however, is Panathinaikos winger Quincy Owusu-Abeyie. The former Arsenal man has been quite heavily linked with Sunderland this week, but as far as we can tell it is all just a big misunderstanding.

A report appeared in Greece on Nova Sport FM which was discussing Quincy's trial at Crystal Palace. On the end of that story was an update on Charis Mavrias' potential switch to Wearside (which looks to be off now). However, Google translate changed 'Mavrias' to 'Black', which is something we are used to now but it seems to have fooled someone.

Goal picked up the story and on their Netherlands site and, whilst citing the original source as Nova Sport FM, misreported that Sunderland were trying to push through a deal for Quincy (it was Mavrias). Before long the usual stuff kicked in: tweets, re-tweets, message boards, rumour, etc. etc. etc.

Before we knew it The Mirror were reporting it and Sky Tyne and Wear claiming that they had checked and could confirm that Quincy was a player that Paolo Di Canio was 'aware of', whatever that means.

It could all be one massive coincidence, of course, but we are fairly confident it is just rubbish originating from the mistranslation.

There is no real full back update sadly, but Lucas Orban's future has finally been resolved. He has signed for Bordeaux. Ah well.

That's your lot for another week. Remember you can keep up with all the stories as they happen via our DEDICATED SUNDERLAND TRANSFER CENTRE.