Sunderland are expecting more offers for Tommy Watson before Monday’s transfer deadline after rejecting a bid from Brighton for the teenage winger.
Aston Villa and Crystal Palace are both understood to have also shown an interest in Watson, who is a product of Sunderland’s academy and has scored twice in 10 appearances in the Championship so far this season.
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Brighton saw an opening offer for the 18-year-old, believed to be around £8m, rejected over the weekend. Fabian Hürzeler’s side are expected to return with an improved bid before Monday’s deadline to test Sunderland’s resolve to keep him.
Villa and Palace are also believed to be consideringbids for Watson in the final 48 hours of the transfer window, although Sunderland have made it clear that they will only consider selling him if they can bring in reinforcements.
“If Tommy did leave, we have to replace him,” said the Sunderland head coach, Régis Le Bris. “We need two wingers on each flank, this is a better balance. Enzo [Le Fée] can play here, but only because we don’t have others available at the moment.”
Brighton and Palace are both facing a busy end to the transfer window. The Republic of Ireland striker Evan Ferguson is wanted by a number of Premier League clubs, with Arsenal, Everton, Bournemouth, Tottenham and West Ham having all registered an interest, along with Bayer Leverkusen. Tariq Lamptey could also be allowed to leave the Amex, with Ajax interested in a permanent deal for the Ghana defender.
Palace have held talks over a potential loan move for Ben Chilwell but would need to come to an agreement with Chelsea over how much of his salary they would pay. The England defender has been frozen out of Enzo Maresca’s plans and has made only one appearance this season.
Oliver Glasner’s side are also in the market for a central defender before the deadline and have been linked to Union Berlin’s Danilho Doekhi, Tiago Djaló of Juventus and Milan’s Strahinja Pavlovic.
