Sunderland are already making plans for the eventuality of Ross Stewart departing, with Alan Nixon reporting via his Patreon that the Black Cats will bid for Tom Cannon should the Scot be sold.
How many goals has Tom Cannon scored?
The 20-year-old had spent the entirety of his career up until last season firing in the goals at reserve level, rather than getting on to the field for his current club Everton. He had three goal contributions in three lots of 90 minutes for the Toffee's youth team as a 17-year-old and bettered that total with eight in 17 starts a season later.
After managing a further haul of seven strikes at the beginning of 2022/23 and then earning his Premier League debut for the Toffees before Christmas, he was shipped out to Preston on loan for his first taste of Championship and first-team football.
Handed the opportunity as one of their leading strikers from January, the attacker thrived. He played 20 times for North End in the second tier, 19 of which were starts, and produced eight goals with one assist.
It led to a rate of 0.48 goals per 90 – meaning he guaranteed nearly a goal contribution in every second game – not a bad rate for a striker who had previously never encountered the league, nor played in such a role for a senior starting eleven.
Are Sunderland signing Tom Cannon?
His performances at Deepdale have now led to interest in his services once more ahead of the new league campaign. According to Alan Nixon, there are a host of sides all looking to bring Cannon back to the second tier for 2023/24 – but only one of them seem to be prepared to offer money in advance to land him on a permanent basis rather than on loan.
That club is Sunderland, who he states are preparing a "cash offer". However, that bid has not been lodged due to the fact they still have Ross Stewart on their books. It seems the Black Cats are waiting to see what the future holds for the Scot – and should the striker leave, Cannon could replace him in their frontline.
With other sides such as Preston, Stoke and Birmingham all also eager to sign him though – albeit with a loan-to-buy bid – they will though face competition to land the Republic of Ireland youngster.
He's a striker that has already made quite an impact in the Championship during his time with Preston. Even opposition bosses were quick to hail how solid Cannon was when he came up against them, with Hull boss Liam Rosenior stating he was "outstanding" against the Tigers. He even went as far as to say the forward was "one of the best" his side had come up against in the second tier.
It shows the level that the Everton man is at already, and he would have no trouble in adapting back to Championship football should Sunderland sign him. Whilst losing Stewart would be a blow for the Black Cats, adding Cannon in his place would ease their worries slightly. It's just a question of whether they could get a deal over the line or if another club will swoop for the player first.
