Sunderland set to snare AFC Bournemouth attacking midfielder

Little over 48 hours since their last meeting and Sunderland and Celtic are set to do battle once more in the race to sign AFC Bournemouth attacker Max Gradel.

The Ivory Coast international has long been on the periphery at the Vitality Stadium and now the Black Cats look ready to pounce.

Sunderland are not short of cash following the sale of Jordan Pickford to Everton for £30m and manager Simon Grayson will want to invest some of that in his playing staff.

And with the ex-Saint-Etienne man available at a cut-price £3m, it appears that a deal could be struck in the coming days.

We like the look of that move taking shape and have priced the Ivorian up accordingly at 7/4.

Celtic are also in the mix at 8/1 and will fancy their chances of snapping up the 29-year-old.

The Parkhead club can offer the 5ft 9in ace the prospect of Champions League football, something that may prove markedly more attractive than Championship football.

We can’t imagine why.

A move back to France could also be an option for the out of favour forward, with Toulouse already having two bids knocked back.

It’s 4/1 for the unsettled star to swap the South Coast for the South of France.

Former club Leeds United, for whom Gradel scored 22 goals in 63 appearances, are also in the mix.

Our traders have him at 6/1 to make an unlikely switch back to Elland Road.

St-Etienne, Gradel’s home for four years between 2011 and 2015, are 7/1 shots.

Max Gradel – Club at end of Summer 2017 transfer window

Sunderland – 7/4

Toulouse – 4/1

Leeds United – 6/1

Saint-Etienne – 7/1

Celtic – 8/1

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All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing