Reports: Bordeaux want Wahbi Khazri back & face competition from 3 others this summer

According to Spanish journalist Guillermo Bullon, Wahbi Khazri is wanted by Bordeaux, who will make a move this summer for the player they sold to Sunderland in January 2015.

Further, Bullon claims les Girondins will face competition from fellow Ligue 1 club Rennes, as well as Spanish outfits Espanyol and Real Betis.

In truth, these latest links are easy ones to make - a former club plus a handful of those who have been rumoured to have a past interest in him. Rennes are thought to have made a move for Khazri in 2014 when he was a rising star at Corsican club Bastia. Ultimately the midfielder would opt for Bordeaux.

And Khazri was linked with both La Liga clubs in the January window and rumours abounded on deadline day that the Tunisian was about to swap the north east of England for Spain. In the end, the player who has made 35 appearances for Sunderland remained at the Stadium of Light.

It may be unlikely that les Girondins will move for the player they sold to Sunderland just 15 months ago.

Bordeaux have rebuilt their midfield since Khazri left and have had a good season - currently sitting 4th in Ligue 1. That said, their coveted Brazilian, Malcom, may be picked up by a bigger team in the summer with Roma and Juventus amongst the clubs said to be interested in the 20-year-old winger who has scored 7 goals and provided 3 assists this season.

Whether any club in France - or indeed Spain - would stump up the likely £9m minimum that Sunderland would want to recoup their investment for Khazri is debatable. Particularly for a player under contract at the Stadium of Light to 2020.

As for this season, the 26-year-old playmaker has waited patiently for his chance back in the starting eleven at Sunderland and made an instant impact on his first start in six months a fortnight ago, scoring direct from a corner in a man-of-the-match performance against West Ham.

Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Khazri was one of the brighter Black Cats' players going forward in last night's Tees-Wear derby. But the earlier features of his play which had drawn criticism from Moyes returned as the midfielder became isolated on the right-wing with little end product and gave up possession too easily.

That said, he came as close as anyone else in a Sunderland shirt to scoring and the woes of the man who was one of the players of the tournament at the African Cup of Nations earlier this year sum up the individual plight of several current squad members under David Moyes.

Whereas Sam Allardyce - the man who signed Khazri - was seemingly a master at utilising players to the best of their abilities whilst building tactical systems to negate risks from any inherent weakness in an individual's game, Moyes has simply been unable to match Big Sam's nous in that regard.

Khazri isn't the only player to have been exposed in such a way in the Sunderland side this season. Patrick van Aanholt was another who struggled to find a way in the squad to mitigate his defensive weakness under Moyes despite having done so under Allardyce. And Fabio Borini is another example of a player who previously displayed something to offer in a system which could cover his clear limitations but who has been poor in most of his appearances this season.

Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images

Moyes was full of praise for Khazri before last night's trip to Middlesbrough but as with many members of the first team squad, the Tunisian's days in a Sunderland shirt appear to be numbered as the great relegation exodus nears.