Aston Villa forward Ross McCormack has reportedly moved closer to securing a loan switch to Sunderland.

At the start of last season, McCormack was given responsibility for scoring the goals which would take Villa back to the Premier League, but he has endured a nightmare spell in the Midlands.

The £12m signing netted just three times in 20 Championship appearances and was subsequently loaned out to Nottingham Forest, where he added just one more effort in seven outings.

It has left him down the pecking order at Villa and according to the Daily Mail, he could be spending the upcoming campaign at the Stadium of Light.

Villa would prefer a permanent deal but due to interested clubs not being prepared to meet anything close to what they paid for the Scot in August 2016, they are faced with the prospect of having to make do with getting at least some of his wages off their outgoings.

Before joining Villa, he had netted 39 goals in 89 second-tier matches for Fulham.