EXCLUSIVE: Sunderland in talks to sign Everton defender

Sunderland attempting to add some more defensive depth before the end of January.

Michael Graham | Jan 28, 2023

EXCLUSIVE: Sunderland in talks to sign Everton defender /

Sunderland are in talks to sign Everton defender Joe Anderson on a permanent deal ahead of Tuesday’s transfer deadline, Sunderland Nation can reveal.

Anderson is the captain of the Toffees under-21 side, working his way up after originally joining the club as a 15-year-old.

Mowbray confirmed last week that Sunderland are considering adding a defender to their squad, saying: “We're trying to bring attacking options in, we might bring in a midfielder if we can, we might even bring a defender in - let's see what the window brings in."

Anderson may well be that man, with the 21-year-old accepting he is unlikely to be given a chance to break into his boyhood club’s first-team picture and looking to make a breakthrough elsewhere.

In that sense, the deal would mirror the recent signing of West Ham midfielder Pierre Ekwah, who made his debut for Sunderland in the FA Cup tie at Fulham.

Sunderland also raided the Hammers for their under-21s captain, Aji Alese, last summer too in a similar deal, and they hold a strong interest in Nottingham Forest midfielder Ateef Konate too.

Anderson is a little in the Alese mode, with him preferring to play centre-back but also able to comfortably switch to left-back as well.

He still has 18-months to run on the three-year extension he signed with Everton 18 months ago, and Sunderland are looking to get him for nothing with Everton getting a percentage of any future fee.

Sunderland have had plenty of success signing Everton academy players before, with both Nathan Broadhead and Ellis Simms enjoying successful loan spells on Wearside.

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Published Jan 28, 2023

MICHAEL GRAHAM

Michael Graham is a professional sports writer with more than ten years of industry experience. After pursuing football writing by helping establish the Roker Report Sunderland AFC fansite, Michael moved to Planet Sport to cover football. Michael has since worked on many of the sports sites within the Planet Sport network, including Football365, TEAMtalk and Planet Football before leaving to join 90min. As well as football, Michael is an accomplished tennis writer and has been regularly featured on Tennishead, TennisBuzz and Tennis365. It is football that is his first love, though, with Sunderland AFC his particular passion. Contact: michael@buzzpublishing.co.uk