Sunderland are closing in on the loan signing of Liverpool’s youngster Ben Woodburn until the end of the season, according to the Daily Star.
Chris Coleman, the new manager of the Black Cats, is a big fan of Woodburn from his time as the Wales manager, and it was him who gave the Liverpool youngster his international debut.
This season, Woodburn has been struggling for minutes under Jurgen Klopp, fighting Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané to get into the squad. So far he has just played the second half of the 2-0 Carabao Cup defeat at the King Power Stadium in September.
However, he has this season featured for Wales, coming on as a late substitute against Georgia and playing 25 minutes in the crucial loss to the Republic of Ireland in October, as well as two friendlies afterwards against France and Panama.
Despite not being in the squad at all since the Leicester defeat, he was named as a substitute, although unused, in the recent dramatic 2-1 win at Burnley.
Sunderland, who are low on cash, cannot afford to bring anyone in permanently to aid their hopes for survival. They are also very slim on players for this Saturday’s FA Cup Tees-Wear derby against Middlesbrough, meaning Coleman is looking to complete this deal quickly.
Coleman has discussed his ambition to bring in younger players:
Give me an 18 or 19 year old with a bit of fire in his belly than someone who’s 30 with £50m in the bank and 500 games under his belt but lost his appetite.
