Big Mac planning swoop for Connolly

Mick McCarthy's Sunderland are talking to Irish international striker David Connolly about a move to Weirside, it emerged today.

Mick McCarthy's Sunderland are talking to Irish international striker David Connolly about a move to Wearside, it emerged today.

The club have stepped up their bid for a return to the Barclays Premiership as they completed the signing of one target and made their move for another.

As 22-year-old Manchester United full-back Mark Lynch became manager McCarthy’s sixth summer signing, the Black Cats were talking to West Ham striker Connolly in a bid to fight off rivals Leicester for his signature.

The Wearsiders tabled a bid for 27-year-old Republic of Ireland international Connolly on Monday as he underwent a medical after rekindling an interest stretching back to last summer.

City are understood to have offered £500,000 (€750,000) for the West Ham frontman, but Sunderland have bettered it and now hope to have manoeuvred themselves into pole position.

“David Connolly is a player we are very interested in,” chairman Bob Murray told the club’s official website, www.safc.com.

“We made an offer to West Ham on Monday while the player was at Leicester having his medical.

“West Ham accepted our bid as it was a superior offer, and we are now in discussions with the player and his representative.

“The final decision lies with David. We all recognise the need for an additional striker and David has played for Mick McCarthy at international level and alongside both Gary Breen and Colin Healy.”

The Black Cats have been forced to do much of their business since McCarthy’s arrival on a shoestring as the financial implications of relegation from the top flight have hit hard.

However, McCarthy has managed to bring six new faces into the squad already this season, with Lynch joining Stephen Elliott, Dean Whitehead, Liam Lawrence, Steven Caldwell and Carl Robinson on Wearside.