MAX CLAYTON has gone on trial to Wolves after Sunderland's failure to reach agreement with Crewe over a fee for the young forward.

The 19-year-old impressed during a four-week stay on Wearside but Crewe wanted around £1m in compensation for a player who is out of contract.

Sunderland were reluctant to match that figure for a young man likely to start the new season in the development squad and is seen very much as a prospect.

That has alerted other clubs and Wolves, planning for a return to the Championship next season, have stepped in. They will face a similar situation financially if they decided to pursue a deal. 

Sunderland manager Gustavo Poyet is looking for new players and revealed in Portugal last night his desire to have four new players within seven days.

So far Poyet has not had a breakthrough in the club's attempts to do deals for Fabio Borini, Cristian Rodriguez and Marcos Alonso, among others.