JUST IN: Sunderland spectacular goalkeeper Anthony Patterson has reportedly agreed to a three-year, $7.5 million contract with Southampton, according to a sky sport report this morning.

Sunderland ace emerges on radar of Southampton

Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson has emerged on the radar of Southampton, according to reporter Alan Nixon on his Patreon page.

Sunderland could face a battle to keep hold of their number one this summer with the transfer window now open for business. He has been their first choice between the sticks over the past few years.

Patterson, 24, has risen up through the academy ranks of the Black Cats and was a regular for them at various different youth levels, as well as having a loan spell away at Notts County to get some experience under his belt. He has now made 123 appearances for the North East outfit in all competitions to date, 46 of which came last season.

In this latest update regarding his future by journalist Nixon on his Patreon page, Southampton have identified him as a potential goalkeeping target. The Saints are back in the Premier League following their play-off final win at Wembley over Leeds United.

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Sunderland set to pay compensation for relegated manager who looked certain to be sacked

I hadn’t been taking much notice of what was happening at Sunderland.

However, I saw something the other day that after having sacked Tony Mowbray in December 2023 and then Michael Beale in February 2024, the Mackems have now not had a manager for over four months and counting.

Michael Dodds was put in temporary caretaker charge and Sunderland had an absolutely disastrous end to last season, winning only two of their final 15 second tier matches and losing ten of them. Relegation form in anybody’s money if that continues into the new season.

All the more baffling that Sunderland hadn’t managed to appoint anybody to start and try to rebuild (paper over the cracks), with the Championship kicking off in only seven weeks time.

There again, no surprise that they have struggled to find a credible candidate to take the job.

Just counting up there and it appears the new Sunderland manager will be the ninth they have had since last playing Premier League football in 2017.

Finally though, Sunderland appear to have got their man.

Over in France, GFFN report that Lorient boss Regis Le Bris is set to be officially announced as the new Sunderland manager.

Despite having the eighth biggest budget in Ligue 1 last season and backed with significant investments such as Benjamin Mendy, Isaak Touré, Mohamed Bamba, and Formose Mendy among others, Regis Le Bris oversaw a disastrous season of just 29 points and relegation just one step above rock bottom. This was a serious collapse for a club that had finished tenth the previous season on 55 points.

GFFN report that the fact Sunderland are set to pay compensation for Regis Le Bris is a significant shift, for a manager that Lorien were reportedly looking to sack.