SUNDERLAND are battling Championship rivals Sheffield Wednesday for the signing of Troyes striker Ike Ugbo.

The Black Cats have been attempting to sign a striker for the whole of the summer, and are now pushing hard to try to sign 25-year-old Ugbo, who is valued at around €3m.

Sunderland have held a series of talks with Caen over Alexandre Mendy, but have been unable to seal a deal for last season’s leading scorer in the French second tier.

With Caen’s recent change of ownership having strengthened their desire to hold on to Mendy if at all possible, Sunderland’s recruitment team have switched their attention elsewhere with Ugbo now firmly in their sights.

An initial round of talks are understood to have taken place with the hierarchy at Troyes, and further discussions are anticipated over the weekend.

However, Sunderland face a major battle to land Ugbo, with Sheffield Wednesday already having held detailed discussions over the Lewisham-born Canada international.

Ugbo spent the second half of last season on loan at Hillsborough, having been recalled from a previous loan spell at Cardiff City, and had a successful campaign as the Owls hauled themselves out of relegation trouble under head coach Danny Rohl.

The striker, who started his career in Chelsea’s youth ranks before playing for Genk and Troyes, scored seven goals in 18 Championship matches for Wednesday, with his performances playing a key role in the Owls’ successful survival bid.

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He was nominated for the Championship Player of the Month award in February, and Rohl was quick to spell out his determination to retain Ugbo at the end of last season.

However, while Sheffield Wednesday’s board have attempted to push through a deal, they have been unable to reach a resolution. Troyes officials are resigned to losing Ugbo on a permanent basis this summer, but are determined to strike the best possible agreement for a player who is contracted to them until the summer of 2026.

Sheffield Wednesday’s failure to strike an early deal has created a window of opportunity, and Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman is leading attempts to take Ugbo to the Stadium of Light.

Having previously pursued a transfer policy heavily skewed to the signing of untried youngsters, Speakman and the rest of Sunderland’s recruitment team have been keen to add some Championship experience to the squad this summer.

The signing of free agents Alan Browne and Ian Poveda has helped on that score, and Ugbo’s extensive experience within English football is one of the key factors driving Sunderland’s interest.

During his time as a youth player at Chelsea, Ugbo had loan spells at Barnsley, where he scored his first professional goal against Sunderland, MK Dons and Scunthorpe United.

He scored four goals while on loan at Cardiff in the first half of last season before moving on to Sheffield Wednesday.

Sunderland play their final pre-season game against Marseille at Bradford City’s Valley Parade ground tomorrow, and are expected to line up with Eliezer Mayenda in attack.

Nazariy Rusyn played in Tuesday’s friendly defeat to Bradford, but Regis Le Bris has admitted that Luis Hemir is available for a loan move as he does not form part of his plans for next season.

Meanwhile, Sunderland have announced the appointment of Ashley Peden as their new chief commercial officer.

Peden has spent the last 18 months at the Stadium of Light as a consultant, working alongside chief business officer David Bruce to help forge new partnerships with Fanatics and hummel as well as agreements with other partners including Midea, Utilita, Serios Group and sportsbreaks.com.