ROKER ROUNDUP: Looks like Sunderland have some tough competition for Charlie Wyke’s signature...

Khazri completes move

Wahbi Khazri has completed his move to Saint-Etienne, moving for a fee thought to be an initial £6m, potentially rising to £9m and the Tunisian captain has signed a four-year deal with the Ligue 1 club.

The player was brought to Sunderland from Bordeaux in January 2016 by Sam Allardyce, when the former England manager spent a fee of around £9m on the now 27-year-old.

He started his career at the Stadium of Light well as he played an influential role in helping the team avoid the drop, but once David Moyes took over from Allardyce the playmaker fell out of favour, and spent last season on loan at Rennes after we were relegated to League One.

His stock rose this summer thanks to some eye-catching displays in the World Cup, where he managed two goals and two assists despite Tunisia crashing out at the group stage - and that led to Saint-Etienne competing with Rennes for his signature.

Saint-Etienne announced Khazri’s signing with a special video on Twitter, although the less said about that, the better.

M’Vila to sign new contract

Speaking of Saint-Etienne and former Sunderland midfielders, Wahbi Khazri will join former Sunderland fan favourite Yann M’Vila at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

The French international had been linked with a return to the Premier League, with London duo Fulham and Crystal Palace both allegedly keen i. the midfielder, but it looks like he will actually extend his contract with Les Verts.

According to French journalist Manu Lonjon, M’Vila will sign a new contract with Saint-Etienne and will link up again with former Sunderland team-mate Khazri this season.

Linked players feature

Three players Sunderland are hoping to sign all featured for their current clubs yesterday.

Mohamed Eisa played in a behind-closed-doors friendly for Cheltenham against Reading under-23s, and scored his team’s only goal as Reading won 4-1.

George Evans was named on the bench for Reading as they faced Besiktas, who named former Sunderland winger Jeremain Lens in the starting line-up, but didn’t get on the pitch as the teams played out a 2-2 draw.

Charlie Wyke started for Bradford City in their game against Sheffield United but only lasted seven minutes before limping off.

Speaking of Wyke, Bolton Wanderers have also been linked with the striker, and their chairman Ken Anderson put out a statement last night which confirmed that they have come to an agreement with their players over a disagreement they had regarding pay which caused a friendly game against Morecambe to be cancelled.

In the statement, Anderson also confirmed that his club had made a six figure offer for a striker, with that bid likely to be Wanderers matching Sunderland’s offer for Wyke.

We are still very active in the transfer market and are looking to bring in several new faces before the season kicks off. It would be inappropriate for me to mention any names until the deals are done but what I can tell you is that we’ve put in a six-figure bid for a striker.

Photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images

In the same game, Billy Sharp was named on the substitutes bench for Sheffield United but came on with just under half an hour to play and scored the winner as United beat Bradford 3-2.

Another thing worth noting is that Sharp’s wife took to Twitter to refute suggestions that the player held talks with the United hierarchy regarding his future at the club.