Sunderland have offered League One rivals Shrewsbury Town £650,000 for the signing of midfielder Ollie Norburn, a report from a print edition of The Sun (23/01, p51) has claimed.

Norburn joined Shrewsbury from Tranmere in the summer of 2018, and has gone onto make 72 appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring 14 goals.

It had previously been reported that Norburn has emerged as a target for the Black Cats this month, and this latest update appearing to confirm that interest, with an opening offer of £650,000 from Sunderland.

There are currently two-and-a-half years remaining on Norburn's contract with Shrewsbury putting them in a strong position to negotiate this and any other offers that may come their way for the midfielder.

It has been claimed that the club could however, be open to negotiating a deal for Norburn, but only after their FA Cup fourth round clash at home to Premier League champions-elect Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, with manager Sam Ricketts keen to keep distractions at a minimum ahead of such a big game for his side.

So far this window, Sunderland have completed the signings of two players, with free agent striker Kyle Laffert joining on a deal until the end of the season, while Bristol City defender Bailey Wright has moved on loan to the Stadium of Light, also until the end of the season.

As things stand, Sunderland are sixth in the League One standings, ten places and seven points better off than Shrewsbury.

The Verdict

This is an interesting one.

Given Norburn's current contract situation, there is absolutely no pressure on Shrewsbury to sell the midfielder this month, meaning they should be ready to demand a big fee from Sunderland this month.

It will therefore be interesting to see how they respond to this bid, and whether Sunderland do make a second offer if this one is rejected, which could well be seen as an indication of their intent.

Given the expectation there is around the Stadium of Light at the minute, you feel the expectation would be for Sunderland to continue to press here, considering the importance such an addition could have to their hopes of promotion this season.