Sunderland's move to sign midfielder Ollie Norburn is being delayed by Shrewsbury Town's upcoming FA Cup tie with Liverpool, a report from the Northern Echo has revealed.

It is thought that the Black Cats are keen to bring Norburn to the Stadium of Light this month, after seeing talks with Rangers over a move for another central midfielder, Greg Docherty, break down earlier in the current transfer window.

There are reportedly suggestions that Shrewsbury could open to negotiating with Sunderland over a potential deal for Norburn, but that those anticipated talks may have to wait for some time yet.

Shrewsbury are set to host Jurgen Klopp's Premier League champions-elect in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday, and manager Sam Ricketts wants to keep disruption to a minimum ahead of that huge game for the club, meaning that any talks over a move for Norburn look set to be put on hold until after that match.

Since joining Shrewsbury at during the summer of 2018, Norburn has made 72 appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring 14 goals.

The 27-year-old could captain Shrewsbury against Liverpool, after being handed the armband by Ricketts following his appointment at The New Meadow in December 2018.

The Verdict

You can certainly understand this from a Shrewsbury perspective.

When you look at the way Liverpool have played this season, the League One side are going to need everything they have in order to give themselves any chance of pulling off a shock on Sunday, meaning they will, of course, want Norburn available.

That however is unlikely to help Sunderland, who will be desperate to get their business done sooner rather than later in the final few days of this window, so they can quickly turn their focus back to winning promotion this season.

Indeed, with Liverpool's trip to Shrewsbury not coming until the 26th January, there will not be long after that for Sunderland to negotiate with both club and player, and potentially go out and find a replacement for Norburn if this deal ultimately falls through, meaning the pressure will be on the Black Cats here, and they certainly won't want that tie going to a replay!