Having already secured the services of Jordan Willis, Conor McLaughlin, Lee Burge, Marc McNulty and George Dobson this summer, Sunderland manager Jack Ross could be set to bolster his squad once again.

According to the Sunderland Echo, the Black Cats are reportedly interested in signing Morgan Fox from Sheffield Wednesday on a permanent deal.

Sunderland, who have already had one bid knocked-back by the Owls for the 25-year-old, are expected to submit a better offer later this week.

Despite making 29 appearances for Wednesday during the previous campaign, Fox has only featured on two occasions this season due to the form illustrated by fellow full-back Liam Palmer.

With regular first-team football no longer guaranteed at Hillsborough, the defender is understood to be keen on a move to the Black Cats.

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Although Denver Hume has made an encouraging start to the year at left-back for Sunderland, he is currently the club's only out-and-out option in this position and thus signing Fox could provide some much-needed competition for the 21-year-old.

The Verdict

If the Black Cats can get a deal over the line for Fox, it could prove to be an incredibly shrewd bit of business.

Having played 144 games during his career at Championship level, the defender should have no issues adjusting to League One and could end up thriving in this particular division if he is able to hit the ground running for Sunderland over the coming months.

Whereas the Black Cats have managed to make a positive start to the season under Ross, the fact that they have yet to keep a clean-sheet in the third-tier will be somewhat of a concern.

Therefore, by bringing in Fox, Sunderland will hope that he can provide a solution to this particular issue by becoming a real force in their back-four.