EXCLUSIVE: Sunderland tracking League Two striker ahead of possible January move
Sunderland appear to be looking for further striker reinforcements for January, with the Black Cats sending scouts to check on AFC Wimbledon youngster Ali Al Hamadi this week, Sunderland Nation can exclusively reveal.
Al Hamadi has been in fine form since joining the Dons in January this year, scoring 10 goals in 19 League Two games last season. He has continued to impress this campaign too, although the goals are not coming quite as easily.
That form has seen him catch the eye of plenty of other clubs, with Barnsley, Peterborough United and Coventry City all linked with a summer move for the Iraq international.
Sunderland have now registered an interest as well, despatching scouts to watch him in the goalless draw with Barrow on Saturday.
Although Sunderland added four strikers to their ranks in the summer, it would be fair to say that they are still searching for a solution at the top end of the pitch.
On-loan Chelsea man Mason Burstow has had the most opportunity, with Portuguese youngster Luis Hemir also tried on occasion. Nazariy Rusyn appears to be seen more as a wide player by Tony Mowbray and is yet to start a game, while Eliezer Mayenda is only just now returning to fitness after sustaining a hamstring injury in his first training session at the club.
It means that Sunderland are yet to have a goal scored by a striker this season, and Mowbray has recently chosen to play without strikers at all despite chasing games, suggesting he doesn’t trust those he has.
In fact, you have to go all the way back to April to find the last time a striker scored for Sunderland, and January 22 to when a centre forward the club actually owned found the net.
Whether or not 21-year-old Al Hamadi is the man to solve that remains to be seen, although he has caught the eye and fits the age profile of players Sunderland target.