SUNDERLAND have offers on the table for “two permanent transfers and two loans”, with sporting director Kristjaan Speakman also revealing that the club have offered a contract extension to key midfielder Alex Pritchard.

The Black Cats are yet to make a signing in this month’s transfer window, but their attempts to recruit have cranked up significantly in the last week with left-back and centre-forward the two key priority positions.

Sunderland have tabled offers for four different players, and while Barnsley’s Callum Styles is regarded as unlikely to make the move to Wearside despite this week’s speculation, Speakman is hoping for some positive news in the next couple of days.

“We've definitely got a couple of priority positions that we've spent a lot of time and focus on, and you've referenced a couple of them there (left-back and striker),” said the Black Cats chief. “We’re always looking across the squad as you have to do in every window, both for who can complement the team and be in the squad, and those who can come in and complement what we’re trying to do as a football club.

"Everyone recognises that the market is slow at the moment, there’s been a very small number of deals in the Championship. We’ve got a couple of permanent offers on the table, a couple of loan offers.

“We’re waiting on other clubs and that's slightly frustrating, but you have to respect that if players are registered to other clubs, it’s their decision. It’s not in our control, it’s about timing and squad management for other clubs.

“At the minute, finances aren’t stopping us doing anything. It’s about needing the market to free up and players to become available – that’s where we sit.”

Speakman did not want to discuss individual targets, but he did concede that Sunderland face intense competition for a number of their proposed signings.

Kieffer Moore is understood to be one of the players the Black Cats are attempting to sign, but the Bournemouth striker has at least half-a-dozen other Championship suitors.

“The players we're enquired about, we'd be one of probably six to eight clubs who've done the same,” said Speakman. “That's where that position is.

“Sometimes, you go through times where there's a surplus of players in certain positions in a window. The last couple, we've found that (a striker) to be a really difficult one, but that's no different to any other football club.”

Speakman is keen to retain Pritchard, who has been the subject of strong speculation about a possible move away from Wearside in the last two transfer windows.

The 30-year-old has entered the final six months of his current deal at the Stadium of Light, and has now been offered an extension to that contract. However, as things stand, an agreement has not been reached, with Pritchard also the subject of interest from a number of different areas, including the United States.

“From my perspective, Alex has been an absolutely integral part of getting us to where we are in the Championship, in a really good position,” said Speakman. “He’s a really important player for the group, and I’m really pleased that he’s got back in the team.

“He wasn’t in the team for a little bit, but he’s back in the team now. His contract is up at the end of the season. With every player, there’s questions about whether they will be staying or going in every window because we’ve got top players.

“From Alex’s perspective, we’ve made the decision more recently to offer him an extension to his contract. We wouldn’t normally do that because we’d normally do that as part of our succession planning somewhere around March or April time.

“But we just felt that in conversations with him, that was something we probably needed to do because of the situation and where his head was at more than anything. I think that’s the right thing for the football club to do, and he is in a really good position. He’s in the team, and I’m sure he’s happy.”