SUNDERLAND have rejected Fenerbahce’s offer of a double-swap deal for Jeremain Lens, with boss David Moyes insisting he wants hard cash for the winger.

Lens joined Fenerbahce on a season-long loan last summer, and the Turkish side are keen to sign the Dutchman on a permanent basis during the current transfer window.

However, as they are unable to meet Sunderland’s £8m asking price, Fenerbahce officials offered the Black Cats Dutch defender Gregory van der Wiel and Nigerian striker Emmanuel Emenike in exchange for Lens.

Van der Wiel is a former Ajax full-back who also spent four years playing with Paris St Germain, while Emenike spent the second half of last season on loan at West Ham, having joined Fenerbahce for €13m in August 2013.

Neither player has much of a future in Istanbul, but while Moyes is keen to add to his squad if possible this month, he does not regard either player as a particularly useful addition.

Instead, the Sunderland boss would rather receive £8m for Lens, in the hope he would subsequently be given some of that money in order to fund his own transfer dealing.

Lens has performed creditably since leaving Wearside in the summer, scoring three goals in his last eight appearances before the Super Lig broke up for its winter break.

He scored in Fenerbahce’s Europa League win over Manchester United in November, and is understood to be keen to remain in Turkey beyond the end of his loan deal.

That will be dependent on Fenerbahce coming up with some additional funds though, and as things stand, he is still due to return to Sunderland at the end of the current campaign.

His current Black Cats contract is not due to expire until the summer of 2019, and both Moyes and Sunderland chief executive Martin Bain are adamant he will not be allowed to leave on the cheap just because his face does not fit.

With Moyes having accepted he will be unable to make any big-money signings this month, he will continue to be reliant on a group of players who have already had more first-team involvement than might have been expected at the start of the campaign.

The likes of Jason Denayer, Javier Manquillo and Donald Love were signed primarily to provide back-up in the summer, but all three were in the starting line-up as Sunderland drew their FA Cup third-round tie with Burnley at the weekend.

They will remain in the squad for Saturday’s Premier League game with Stoke, and Moyes is hoping they continue their rapid rate of development in the second half of the season.

“There are players who are playing fairly regularly, who you probably wouldn’t have expected to have had that kind of involvement at the start of the season,” said the Sunderland boss.

“You’re looking at the likes of Donald Love, who we brought in, and one or two others like Javier Manquillo, who came in to play his first game for quite a while.

“We put Jason at the back to see how he got on, so we’re trying to get the best we can out of the players we have. I’ll keep trying to do that.”

Sunderland have lost Lamine Kone, Didier Ndong and Wahbi Khzari to the Africa Cup of Nations, and with the likes of Lee Cattermole, Duncan Watmore, Paddy McNair and Lynden Gooch all nursing long-term injuries that could keep them out of the majority of the rest of the season, Moyes admits his squad is being severely stretched.

“I don’t really know what side I’ll be able to pick for the (FA Cup) replay,” he said. “Burnley were able to rest a few players for (Saturday’s) game, and their bench was certainly much stronger than ours.

“We can only hope that we get some players back from injury. We were without about eight injured players, and there are obviously another three away at the African Cup of Nations.

“That would take its toll on most clubs in the division, and there are probably four of those out with long-term injuries, as people are well aware. I don’t want to make any excuses, and we’re trying not to, but it is fact.”