A big update has emerged on Sunderland and their pursuit of Jack Rudoni in the summer transfer window... 

What's the talk?

According to Football Insider, the Black Cats have had an offer turned down for the central midfielder as AFC Wimbledon stand firm in negotiations.

The report claims that fellow Championship sides Luton and Huddersfield are also keen on the gem and have had bids of their own knocked back.

It is stated that all three teams are expected to go back in for the Englishman with renewed offers to snap him up from the League One outfit.

Huge Corry Evans upgrade

Kristjaan Speakman must now seal a deal to sign Rudoni as he would be a huge upgrade on Corry Evans in the middle of the park.

The experienced Northern Irishman played 36 times in the third tier last term and struggled to catch the eye as he was largely unimpressive in midfield.

Evans won 51% of his individual ground duels - making 1.3 tackles per game - and did not offer much of a threat going forward as he scored two goals and created two.

Rudoni, meanwhile, won 52% of his battles and made 1.7 tackles per match, which suggests that he was - slightly - better than the Sunderland man in that area.

South London Press reporter Edmund Brack recently showered the gem with praise in an interview with the Bristol Post, saying:

"He’s quite direct. When he picks up the ball, his first thought is always to go towards goal. It’s a 1-2 and then he’s off.

"He’s quite fearless. Anyone his age, they could be affected by the winless run AFC Wimbledon went through last season (the Dons failed to win 28 games in all competitions from December 11 through to the end of the season) but he continued to put in performances, and he nearly kept them up alongside Ayoub Assal and Luke McCormick."

It is in attack where Rudoni can be a huge upgrade on Evans. The Wimbledon man plundered an impressive 12 goals and five assists in League One - 13 more goal contributions than the Black Cats man managed to produce.

This means that they have a similar level of defensive effectiveness whilst there is a significant gap between their offensive outputs. Therefore, Speakman can improve Alex Neil's team by signing the League One maestro to replace the ex-Blackburn dud.

AND in other news, Sunderland enter race to sign 22y/o gem who can be "the difference", he’s Neil’s dream...