Sunderland have opened talks with Bayern Munich goalkeeper Rob-Thorben Hofmann, as reported by German journalist Florian Plettenburg.  

The Black Cats' interest in the German shot-stopper comes straight after their link with Bayern Munich winger Leon Dajaku.

The Northern Echo has reported that the goalkeeper will extend his contract with the Bundesliga giants, before joining Sunderland on a season-long loan deal.

According to the Sunderland Echo, the League One club have been monitoring Hofmann's situation for quite some time, ahead of this initial contact.

The 22-year-old held a place on the bench in Bayern's first team for six games last season, before he suffered an injury to his knee.

Hofmann spent the vast majority of last season with Bayern Munich II in 3. Liga, playing 25 games and conceding 37 goals in the process.

The verdict

Adding a goalkeeper has seemingly been on the agenda for quite a while at Sunderland, and with Lee Burge dropping down to the bench in recent weeks, it would be interesting to see if Hofmann is awarded with regular first-team football straight away - that is if he arrives of course.

Hofmann is a player with a lot of potential, which is justified by his inclusions in Bayern's Bundesliga squads last season, and a move to Sunderland would surely only happen if regular minutes are confirmed.

It remains to be seen what happens with Burge. 21-year-old Anthony Patterson has started the club's last two league games in net, so it appears that there is no definitive number 1 at the club at present.