Sunderland have been linked with Brighton striker Deniz Undav recently and the German could prove to be the Black Cats’ next Kevin Phillips at the Stadium of Light.
According to Football League World, the 26-year-old could arrive at Sunderland in the January transfer window in a loan deal from the Seagulls, although the Black Cats will face competition from fellow Championship sides Blackburn Rovers, Burnley, QPR, Norwich City and Coventry City.
The Seagulls signed Undav in January 2022 after some sensational performances with Union Saint-Gillois in Belgium, before loaning him back to the Pro League side for the remainder of the 2021/22 campaign.
He would eventually finish the season on 25 goals and ten assists in just 33 Pro League appearances but has struggled to displace Danny Welbeck in Brighton’s side under both Graham Potter and Roberto de Zerbi. He has just eight substitute appearances in the Premier League to his name, although he did score in one start against Forest Green in the FA Cup.
Upon his arrival at Brighton in the summer, Undav promised a lot of goals but it seems as if he will have to scratch his goalscoring itch on loan for the rest of the season, and Sunderland could be the big beneficiaries.
He said: “I can score inside the box, outside the box, I can score from the middle line, I can score from everywhere. I have no typical type of goal. I try to score with my head, with the left foot, right foot, with my shoulder, with everything.”
This ability in front of goal may well remind Sunderland fans of Kevin Phillips, who finished as the club’s top goalscorer in four consecutive campaigns between 1999/2000 and 2002/03, including 30 Premier League goals in that first season.
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He was adept on either foot, and although his right was his strongest, the former Crystal Palace ace was still assured on his left. Indeed, for the type of goals Transfermarkt have recorded in the later stages of his career, Phillips found the net on 55 occasions with his right and then eight times with his left.
No other player has ever managed 30 league goals in a single season for Sunderland and while it would be unrealistic for Tony Mowbray to expect Undav to bag 30 in the second half of the Championship campaign, he certainly seems confident in his own ability.
The fact he managed 27 in all competitions last term suggests that he knows where the net is and his clinical nature in front of goal could perhaps see him follow in the footsteps of a legend such as Phillips at the Stadium of Light.