Football journalist Alan Nixon has taken to Twitter to state that it is unlikely that Sunderland will sign Dion Sanderson from Wolves this summer. 

The 21-year-old defender previously spent the majority of last season on loan at the Stadium of Light, becoming a popular figure during the process as he performed well before suffering a bad injury that ended his spell in the North East.

It has been said that the Black Cats would be interested in bringing the youngster back to the club on a permanent basis, whilst there is also said to be interest in the player from Sky Bet Championship side Birmingham City.

However, Nixon has now provided an update on Sunderland's pursuit of Sanderson as he stated the following:

It is as yet unclear as to how much money Wolves would be looking to receive for the player, but it has been widely reported that they are willing to cash in over the next few months.

Sanderson currently has one year remaining on his contract at Molineux and played a total 27 games for Sunderland last term before he returned to the Midlands.

The Verdict 

This will come as no surprise to some sections of the Sunderland fan base as many knew that money was always going to be tight this summer after they missed out on promotion to the Championship once again.

Lee Johnson will have to make use of a tighter budget moving forwards and as a result these types of deals are seemingly out of the question.

Sanderson is good enough to play a lot higher than League One and I don't think many could blame him if he did indeed move to Birmingham this summer.

I can certainly see the Black Cats strengthening their backline but it appears that this particular deal will not be taking place.