SUNDERLAND have made a fresh attempt to land Ipswich Town’s teenage hot-shot Connor Wickham.

The Black Cats’ initial advances were rebuffed earlier this month when they failed to match the Tractor Boys’ £12m price-tag.

But now Sunderland have moved back in, in the hope they can prise Wickham away from Portman Road before Liverpool follow up their early interest.

Talks between the two clubs are understood to have been productive, with Sunderland suggesting that they will be willing to pay more than the £9m they have recently discussed.

Wickham is thought to prefer a move to Anfield, although the Reds have stalled on entering the negotiations until they have completed the signings of their two main summer transfer targets: Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam.

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is keen to ensure he has the first chance to persuade the 18-year-old, who is also courted by Arsenal, Newcastle and Tottenham, to uproot to Wearside.

Bruce is yet to add any new faces to his Sunderland squad, but he is on the verge of adding Seb Larsson, Keiren Westwood, Darron Gibson and Ji Dong-won to his ranks.

But he knows adding more new strikers to his squad is essential, with Wickham, David Ngog and Peter Crouch all in his sights.