LAMINE KONE is due back at Sunderland's training ground this morning wondering what the future holds as David Moyes prepares to cash in on the powerful defender.

The Black Cats are understood to be already working on ways to make up for his loss and have agreed a double deal with Manchester United for Paddy McNair and Donald Love.

Both aged 21, McNair would come in to battle for a place at the heart of the Sunderland defence while Love is a full-back. Neither were heavily involved in the first team during Moyes' time in charge at Old Trafford.

Moyes is keen to have players lined up before he grants permission for Kone to leave the Stadium of Light, just eight months after his arrival.

Kone had expected a new deal but it has emerged Sunderland are ready to sell after Everton made their intentions clear to spend big on him.

The Sunderland fans’ favourite is wanted by the Toffees' manager Ronald Koeman and they have launched a fresh offer, believed to have gone up to around the £21m mark, for the Ivorian.

Sunderland have stood firm after Everton's initial advances, knowing it would significantly weaken their own Premier League chances, but the money being tabled is seriously tempting Moyes who knows he could reinvest that back into his squad.

Papy Djilobodji, an £8m buy from Chelsea, is the only new arrival of the summer so far and that has frustrated Moyes, who is also close to bringing Yann M’Vila back to the North-East from Rubin Kazan. He is also keen on Tottenham's DeAndre Yedlin and Dynamo Kiev's Domagoj Vida.

Sunderland can’t afford to lose more players at this stage and that is why Everton have been unable to tie up a deal for Kone smoothly, with Moyes well aware he has a small squad ahead of the Premier League opener at Manchester City on Saturday.

He is also keen on boosting his attacking options by taking Steven Naismith to the North-East from Norwich, where he moved in January for £8m but suffered relegation to the Championship.

Naismith is not thought to be unsettled at Carrow Road, although the possibility of working with the man who took him to the Premier League from Rangers in 2012 could interest him. It would also mean Naismith, 29, moving closer to his Irvine roots.

So far Sunderland’s efforts to add to the Djilobodji signing have not been as effective as Moyes would have liked, although work is still ongoing behind-the-scenes to strengthen the squad he has inherited.

Just last week Moyes admitted he would not be afraid to sell players if he felt it would benefit his own rebuilding plans and the £21m offer for Kone has tempted both him and the club.

The 27-year-old only arrived from Lorient in a £6m deal in January and he was a key player in Sunderland’s successful battle to beat the drop under Sam Allardyce.

But he has become a player well-liked by Sunderland’s supporters and many of them have gone on social media to air their concern at his possible sale to a Premier League rival, regardless of the profit.

The Northern Echo revealed on Saturday morning how Everton were preparing a whopping fresh offer for the centre-back and Koeman, who left Southampton earlier this summer, has identified him as an ideal candidate to replace John Stones.

Having initially been prepared to offer Kone fresh and more lucrative terms which the player was happy to sign, it now seems there has been a rethink on Wearside.

Ashley Williams completed a £12m move from Swansea City to Everton yesterday after it was confirmed Stones had moved to Manchester City for £47.5m; the second highest ever transfer fee paid for a defender behind the £50m paid to Chelsea by Paris St Germain for David Luiz.

But Everton do not want to stop there and they are hopeful of luring Kone away from Sunderland. There have been reports stating he was on Merseyside for talks after being pictured with a fan. Sunderland have neither confirmed nor denied that.

The Sunderland squad were off yesterday and are due to back in this morning as Moyes puts his players through the final few days of preparations for Saturday’s trip to face Pep Guardiola’s City at the Etihad.

He still hopes for transfer progress during the next few days although time does seem to be running out for him to be able to call on fresh faces at Manchester City. Even Djilobodji, who completed his switch last Friday night, will head into the opener despite not playing a friendly.

Naismith, who Sunderland were actually interested in last summer, is thought to have a release clause in the contract he signed in January. It is claimed he is available and Moyes is weighing up whether to activate it, knowing all about his time impressing for Everton after leaving Rangers in 2012.