Sunderland still hopeful in £500,000 striker pursuit

Sunderland are still hopeful of pulling off the capture of striker Mateo Bajamich, but won’t be upping their half-a-million-pound offer for the 21-year-old according to the Northern Echo.

Phil Parkinson’s side are currently undefeated in League One, having drawn on the opening weekend and beaten Oxford 2-0 this Saturday. Despite the win at Oxford, they haven’t seen a league goal from either Will Grigg or Charlie Wyke, both who have struggled for form since their respective moves.

Aiden O’Brien, a summer capture from Millwall, has also failed to regsiter as yet in the league, although both him and Wyke did bag in the 8-1 hammering of Aston Villa’s kids. That’s left Parkinson still hunting a striker, with Bajamich high on the list of targets.

The youngster is currently plying his trade with Instituto AC, but is believed to be hot proprty. MLS side Houston Dynamo lodged their own £1m bid for the forward, and agreed a four-year deal too. That recently collapsed due to third-party ownership issues, once again leaving him available for a move to Wearside.

However, Sunderland won’t be upping their offer, although it is believed the deal would include a series of add-ons that could see his price rise dramatcially. Crucially, Bajamich wouldn’t count towards this season’s salary-cap calculations if he joined the Black Cats because he is classed as an under 21 player.

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Our View

This is the sort of signing we could see Sunderland of old pulling off; a club in the top flight or Championship. However, you can list on one hadn the number of Argetine players to have made it in the English lower divisions, and it is even harder for a youngster of 21 to settle in another country.

Surely, £500,000 would be better spent on a talented English youngster or even an established lower league striker with 20 goals to his name last season? This deal smells an awful lot like that of a club who has forgotten exactly which division it is playing in right now.

The sad thing is we’re sure many Black Cats fans feel the same; where can they find £500,000 for a youngster from Argentina, but struggle capturing their own domestic targets, such as Scott Fraser or Luke Garbutt?