EXCLUSIVE: Sunderland to fend off Championship interest in Patrick Roberts

For the second summer transfer window in a row, Sunderland will need to beat away deadline day interest in Patrick Roberts.

Sunderland winger Patrick Roberts / IMAGO / NurPhoto

Sunderland are bracing themselves to fight off interest in winger Patrick Roberts again this week, with Championship rivals Luton Town keen to prise him away.

Last summer Roberts was a big summer deadline day target for Southampton, and Sunderland took a big chance on keeping him considering he was inside the last two years of his contract.

This year, Sunderland’s position is a lot stronger with Roberts since signing a new deal committing himself to Black Cats until 2026, and the club have an option to extent that by another year too.

That is not stopping Luton from making an attempt to take the player back down south, though, and they have significant money to spend after playing n the Premier League last season.

They showed off that spending power last week when they paid £10m for Cardiff defender Mark McGuinness. The Hatters have also had a surprisingly poor start to the season, winning just one point from their first three matches - and that has created an urgency within the club to strengthen their squad before the deadline.

Boss Rob Edwards sees Roberts as a player who can add some much-needed sparkle to his attack, but Sunderland’s position is exceptionally strong.

Roberts has found a new lease of life at Sunderland this season and he stated his affection for the club after starring in the 1-0 win over Burnley last week – a game that marked his 100th appearance for the Black Cats.

“I’ve gone on to call this place my home,” Roberts said afterwards. “I have been here for nearly three years now and it’s a place I’ve come to build a family and create many memories. It’s quite hard to believe that I’ve notched up 100 games but I love playing for this club.

“What I want to do is to hopefully repay the fans for their amazing support. This is a bold city which has its football team right at the very heart of everything that is good. We want to make them proud.”

Sunderland also have zero financial pressure to sell after reluctantly parting with Roberts’ fellow winger Jack Clarke, so all in all it looks a highly unlikely deal to happen.

However, Luton feel they can tempt him and, as we all know, the last few days of the transfer window are very difficult to predict.