IPSWICH TOWN are keen to sign Charlie Wyke this summer, and are set to step up their interest in the Sunderland striker after calling off their pursuit of Eoin Doyle.

Having suffered a frustrating season in League One, which saw them finish three places behind Sunderland in the final table, Ipswich are planning a summer of significant change.

The club’s manager of football operations, Lee O’Neill, has confirmed there will be “additions to the squad” in the next few weeks, and manager Paul Lambert has identified a new striker as a key priority after his side struggled in front of goal in the second half of last season.

Ipswich were one of a number of clubs to hold talks with Doyle, who was the leading scorer in League Two last term after a successful loan spell at Swindon Town, but Bolton Wanderers look set to tie up a deal for the 32-year-old, who is a free agent after his contract at Bradford City came to an end.

With Doyle out of the equation, the Ipswich hierarchy have turned their attention elsewhere, with a move for Wyke understood to have been discussed on more than one occasion in the last few days.

Wyke joined Sunderland for £400,000 in the summer of 2018, but his time on Wearside has been plagued by a series of injury issues and he has never quite been able to establish himself as the Black Cats’ number one striker.

He has scored 11 goals in 60 appearances in a Sunderland shirt, and finished last season with five league goals from 22 starts.

Phil Parkinson values his physical attributes and ability to lead the line, and Wyne started 15 of the Black Cats’ final 17 matches last term.

With Kyle Lafferty having left at the end of his short-term deal, Parkinson will be reluctant to lose Wyke as he is the only natural target-man in the current Sunderland squad.

However, the 27-year-old is on relatively high wages and his departure for a fee would give Parkinson some extra wriggle room in terms of bringing in signings of his own this summer.

If Parkinson was to lose a striker, he would prefer it to be Will Grigg, with the Northern Irishman having not started a game since early December. Sunderland splashed out an up-front fee of £3m to sign Grigg, though, and the club’s board will not want to lose him without recouping at least some of that money.

The Black Cats continue to talk with defender Bailey Wright, who spent the second half of last season on loan at the Stadium of Light. Wright is a free agent following the end of his contract at Bristol City last week.

Jay Spearing is another free agent interesting Parkinson, with the duo having previously worked together at Bolton Wanderers. Parkinson handed Spearing the captain’s armband when he manager of the Trotters, and is understood to have held talks with the 31-year-old and his representatives in the last few days.

Spearing has left Blackpool after he was unable to agree the terms of a new deal with the Seasiders, but Sunderland face competition from a number of different quarters as they battle to land the midfielder.

Tranmere and Bolton have signalled their own interest in Spearing, who has made more than 300 career appearances in the Championship and League One.