ROSS Stewart is nearing the Sunderland exit door after the Black Cats accepted a bid for the striker from Southampton - and Saints have now stepped up their interest in Patrick Roberts and made an offer for the winger.

Stewart now looks almost certain to leave ahead of the transfer deadline. He travelled to the south coast on Thursday evening to undergo his medical, ahead of finalising the switch.

The fee is understood to be in the region of £8m up-front, with the potential of Sunderland receiving a further £4m in add-ons. There's also a sell-on clause included in the deal.

Stewart is well into the final 12 months of his contract at the Stadium of Light and although negotiations have taken place over an extension, there was no indications an agreement would be reached.

Southampton - whose manager Russell Martin previously tried to sign Stewart when the striker joined Sunderland - stepped up their interest earlier in the week, and although initial bids were rejected, a deal has now been agreed.

Saints have also now tabled an offer for Patrick Roberts. Roberts, like Stewart, is out of contract in the summer, but Southampton will almost certainly have to increase their initial bid of £3m plus £2m in guaranteed add-ons to stand any chance of tempting the Black Cats into selling the former Manchester City winger.

Meanwhile, Lynden Gooch is set for the exit door. The 27-year-old will reunite with Alex Neil at Stoke City. He was undergoing a medical on Thursday night.

Sunderland are continuing their efforts to bolster the squad, with Tony Mowbray saying in his press conference on Thursday afternoon that he's hoping for a "busy" deadline day.

The Black Cats are pushing to finalise the signing of Nasariy Rusyn and if, as expected, the Stewart deal goes through, Sunderland will step up their efforts to bring in a second striker.

Mowbray is also still hopeful of signing a midfielder to compete with Dan Neil, Pierre Ekwah and Jobe Bellingham.

He said on Thursday: "We have to have some backup otherwise we are potentially asking for trouble somewhere down the line."