The former Celtic and Manchester City man enjoyed a fruitful season in the Championship last campaign, netting five times and chipping in with seven assists whilst also developing an impressive partnership with Manchester United loanee Amad Diallo.

However, Alan Nixon has stated  that interest is growing from the Hoops and Championship rivals Southampton in the winger. Roberts has a year left on his deal at the Stadium of Light but as of last week, had yet to receive an offer from Sunderland.

Roberts started a Sunderland defeated Rotherham United 2-1 at the Stadium of Light on Saturday but picked up a minor injury towards the end of the win.

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Sunderland: Mackems could sign a bigger talent than Ellis Simms

The Mackems could sign a bigger talent than Ellis Simms.

Sunderland were hit with the cruellest of blows when Ross Stewart suffered an Achilles tendon injury in January but with the 27-year-old out of action till the end of September, Tony Mowbray is in the market for a new forward and news has emerged that they’re interested in signing a highly-rated Premier League striker.

Sunderland transfer news – What’s the latest?

According to journalist Alan Nixon this week, Everton striker Tom Cannon is wanted by a whole host of clubs across the continent after impressing on loan at Preston North End last season.

From January onwards, the 20-year-old sharpshooter returned eight goals in 20 Championship appearances and this has alerted Serie A club Sampdoria with Championship sides Sunderland and Stoke also throwing their names into the hat.

While Sunderland would be interested in striking a deal, Nixon states the £8m fee that he commands could be the sticking point, potentially ruling out any Championship clubs in their pursuit of the Irishman.

With Everton giving Cannon the green light to go out on loan for another season, his destination is looking like Preston as reported by Chronicle Live, however, if Sunderland were willing to stump up the £8m fee, he could be heading to the North East instead.

How good is Tom Cannon?

Making an instant impact at Championship level, the Republic of Ireland youth striker drew praise from several opposition managers and pundits during his spell at Deepdale with Liam Rosenior waxing lyrical about the youngster following Hull’s 0-0 draw at Preston.

“I thought Tom Cannon was outstanding, one of the best we’ve played against by far”.

Meanwhile, former West Ham striker and EFL pundit, Dean Ashton, directed lofty praise towards Cannon after he scored his sixth goal in as many games against Reading in April.

“Yeah, almost a one-in-two man, which at Championship level is incredible for such a young player – with such little experience,” said Ashton, as quoted by Lancs Live.

While praise can sometimes be thrown around at will, Cannon’s goal-scoring exploits certainly warranted every positive word that was said about his loan spell, and he isn’t the first loan player to showcase their talents in the second tier.

Sunderland have a habit of signing phenomenal youngsters on loan and in the first half of last season, they captured striker Ellis Simms, also from Everton, who was recalled by the Toffees in January following his impressive performances.

The 22-year-old accrued seven goals in 13 starts for the Black Cats and despite producing similar numbers to his fellow loanee, Cannon actually excels when comparing a variety of stats across their respective loan spells.

According to FBref, Cannon ranks higher than Simms for successful shots on target (1.13/0.80), successful take-ons (1.24/0.48), carries into the penalty area (1.13/0.64) and tackles in the attacking third (0.38/0.08).

While Simms has a marginally better non-penalty goal record of (0.43/0.56) and expected assists (0.13/0.17), Cannon’s all-round game, including his pressing numbers, ability to commit defenders and passing range are all significantly better than Simms.

Despite being two years younger, Everton’s young prodigy is already becoming a complete forward and those attributes will only become more refined if he departs Finch Farm and spends another season in the Championship.

With Everton’s fine prospect ready to explode into life once more, Sunderland know that if they were to strike a deal, Cannon would be ready to show the Black Cats faithful that he’s an even bigger talent than their former fan-favourite.