Sunderland have been dealt a potential blow to their chances of securing a permanent deal for Everton striker and former Black Cats loan star Nathan Broadhead.

What's the news?

After being linked with a move to sign the player earlier in the current summer transfer window, a recent report from The Athletic has bad news for Sunderland.

It is claimed that the Merseyside club "have offered the 24-year-old a new deal and have so far refused to countenance offers to part with him permanently."

Neil should be gutted

During his time at the Stadium of Light, the Welshman ended up finding the net ten times in 22 Championship appearances, in addition to scoring two goals in three Carabao Cup outings.

To further highlight the attacking talent he delivered last season, Broadhead racked up a higher percentage for shots on target (58.5%) in the league than any other Sunderland player to score more than one goal throughout the campaign.

He also ended his loan spell with the joint-second highest average for shots at goal per game (1.6) at the Wearside club.

Having previously been lauded as a "terrific" player by former Everton U23 manager David Unsworth, Broadhead certainly played his part in getting the Black Cats back into the Championship after four years in the third division.

With Sunderland having five shots on target in their recent draw against Coventry City but only finding the back of the net once, having another clinical figure in the side such as Broadhead would surely help them throughout the campaign.

Taking all of this into account, it's easy to see why the Wearside club have been eyeing another potential deal for the attacker this summer.

On the flip side, it's also clear why the Toffees are keen to tie Broadhead down to a new deal at Goodison Park and why they reportedly aren't keen on letting him leave on a permanent basis.

If a permanent move for the £2.9k-per-week centre-forward is off the cards for this summer, this would surely be a big blow for Alex Neil, especially since he knows what the youngster can offer on the pitch.

Moving forward, if Everton would be willing to let the striker leave on another loan deal before the end of the window, Sunderland should definitely see if the Toffees would want to do business with them again.

Bearing in mind how the Black Cats can offer him Championship football rather than another campaign in League One, this could be more appealing for Everton to get a good gauge of how Broadhead can perform in the second division.