Premier League side target a summer move for Sunderland starlet - should we be worried?

Rumours have circulated that Premier League side Watford are planning a summer transfer window swoop for young starlet Joel Asoro, with journalist Alan Nixon hinting on Twitter that the Sunderland bright spark could be set to leave Wearside.

Asoro - who started out at IF Brommapojkarna before he was snapped up by Sunderland in 2015 - has firmly established himself as a first team regular since Chris Coleman arrived on Wearside and has perhaps been our most improved and influential player, with his awareness and ingenuity on the pitch undoubtedly improving game-by-game.

Experienced campaigners like Aiden McGeady and Callum McManaman have had to take a back seat whilst Asoro has snapped up his place in the side and he hasn’t looked back, scoring twice and proving to be a constant threat each and every week, regardless of the end result.

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The Hornets reportedly join the likes of Paris St Germain and Arsenal keeping in close tabs on the Sweden U21 international, who - according to reports - has previously been tracked by Juventus and Bayern Munich.

Watford and Sunderland have already done business once this year, with midfielder Didier Ndong swapping the Stadium of Light for Vicarage Road on loan - a deal which could yet become permanent in the summer.

Asoro signed for Sunderland in 2015 and made his professional debut the following year, featuring in a 2-1 Premier League defeat to Middlesbrough when the striker replaced Duncan Watmore in the 81st minute to become Sweden's youngest Premier League player.

The Stockholm-born forward boasts an impressive youth career at international level having featured a combined 30 times for Sweden's U17s and U21s, scoring 15 goals in total.

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The 18-year-old has broken into Chris Coleman's depleted Sunderland squad recently, proving to be a bright spark in catastrophic season of constant disappointment for Sunderland fans.

The Black Cats youngster fired his team into the lead against rivals Middlesborough at the weekend, scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Hull City in January, and set up the equaliser at Ashton Gate when Sunderland came back from 3-0 down to draw with Bristol City.

It's no secret that we're seriously short of cash, and if the Ellis Short and Martin Bain regime is still in place come the summer transfer window it would be fair to assume that with clubs sniffing around our top prospects we may well be forced to sell.

Asoro has just over a year left to run on his current deal, and the club will be keen to tie him down to a longer contract come the summer - either way, this will alert clubs to his availability.