Black Cats interested in the Goat

The Sunderland boss has, however, made it clear that he won't be moving into the transfer market until he can sell some of the strikers he already has on the books at The Stadium of Light.

"At the moment, I've got Kev Phillips, Tore Andre Flo, Lilian Laslandes, Kevin Kyle, Marcus Stewart and Michael Proctor. There will be no-one new coming in while I've still got all of them," McCarthy told the official Sunderland website

"If they are all still here come the start of the season, then we have to get goals out of them.

"But if the wheels were put in motion and we end up with the chance to bring someone in, then someone like Shaun, a player with pace, a proven goalscorer at this level and an enthusiastic person, that's the kind of player who would appeal to me."