Aston Villa forward Cameron Archer has reportedly emerged as a potential January transfer target for Sunderland.
During the second half of the 2021-22 campaign, the academy graduate make an impact in the Championship, netting seven times in 20 outings for Preston North End.
The decision was made by then-Villa boss Steven Gerrard to retain the 20-year-old's services for their current Premier League season, Archer acting as third choice behind Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings.
However, the youngster has been restricted to just 43 minutes in England's top flight, that game time spread over six appearances.
As many as 16 of those minutes have come since Gerrard's departure, and it now remains to be seen whether recently-appointed head coach Unai Emery will hand the England Under-21 international more involvement during the remainder of 2002-23.
According to Football Insider, Sunderland are monitoring any developments with the situation ahead of the turn of the year.
Although the Black Cats have the joint-eighth best attacking record in the second tier, they have had issues with their forward line in recent months.
Leading frontman Ross Stewart has not played since August due to injury, while Ellis Simms has only recently returned from a six-week stint on the sidelines.
Despite playing just seven times, Stewart remains Sunderland's top goalscorer with five strikes, and Tony Mowbray is likely to strengthen his options in that area of the pitch.
The report adds that a number of other Championship sides are admirers of Archer and would make a move should he become available on a temporary basis.
Much could depend on whether Emery is successful in acquiring his own targets at the midway point of the season with speculation persisting that he may look for a reunion with at least one Villarreal player.
The West Midlands outfit have been linked with each of Samuel Chukwueze and Nicolas Jackson, the former having just over 19 months remaining on his contract.
A deal for Jackson will be far tougher with the newly-capped Senegal international having a contract at the Yellow Submarine until 2026. body check tags ::
