TRANSFER LATEST: Sunderland are set on signing exciting Sudanese striker - but is he any good?

Yesterday afternoon we here at Roker Report broke the news that Sunderland had submitted a substantial bid for Cheltenham Town striker Mohamed Eisa - a seven figure sum and the highest offer that the League Two club have received yet since bidding for him started in recent weeks.

Eisa may not be a name that is known to the majority of Sunderland supporters, but then he’s not really been on the scene all that long - his one and only season as a Football League player during the 2017/18 campaign saw him score an impressive 25 goals, whilst also registering 7 assists.

Prior to his stint with Cheltenham he played non-league football for Greenwich Borough and excelled in the non-league game, scoring 52 goals in 81 games for the Cannons over a two-year period.

Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images

So whilst his stats appear to be very impressive we cannot claim to be an expert on him, his credentials or his ability to perform at a high level - and let’s be honest here, in terms of the clubs that are interested in him Sunderland are by far the biggest, and provide him with the greatest platform to further enhance his career and his playing skills.

So, as such, we spoke to our pals from the Cheltenham Town Fans group about Eisa and what the future holds for him back in April, and it’s safe to say that they have high hopes for the man from Khartoum:

Mo has been one of very few positives during this campaign. After a decent pre-season, he came to the club expecting to be our fourth choice striker. The season couldn’t have started better for him with a goal on his debut and then some top class finishes in the cup against Oxford.

There was a massive fear he would burn out as the season went on from not playing at this level before, but he has just kept plugging away and scoring for fun.

Whenever he has the ball in the box you just have no doubt he is going to tuck it away - he’s extremely confident on the ball and has the tenacity to take on his man.

He scored his first hat-trick against Port Vale earlier this year and managed to earn himself a nomination for the ‘League Two player of the year’ award.

Recently he’s found himself alone in a 4-5-1 which has hindered his progress and has failed to score as support has dried up. His strength was poor at the start of the season and was shrugged off the ball quite easily but fortunately he has progressed and became stronger.

I have absolutely no doubt he could easily cut it at a championship club, and he’ll either end up there or in League One if someone can afford him.

He’s got a promising future in the game.

Sounds good, right?

Eisa is a talent that many clubs are sniffing around but aren’t sure whether he’s worth spending a hefty amount of money on when taking his limited experience in the Football League into account. After all, he could just be a one-season wonder, and whilst he’s scored readily he’s only really done it in the fourth tier of English football - so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that he might not be ready or good enough to step it up at a club like Sunderland.

But we’ll see. What we do know is that Sunderland are very impressed by him and see him as an ideal replacement in the squad for Joel Asoro, who left to join Swansea earlier this week.

Losing a player with pace and guile significantly weakens our attack, and finding a solution sooner rather than later can only be a good thing. Eisa mightn’t hit the ground running immediately but he’s got all the raw attributes to succeed here - and a keen eye for goal.

Stay tuned right here at RokerReport.com as this one develops - we’ll be sure to bring all the latest news to you first once we learn more of how things are progressing.