SUNDERLAND boss Simon Grayson has tabled a loan offer for Max Gradel, but Bournemouth are hoping to sell the winger for £3.5m.

Grayson has identified Gradel as a major summer target, having previously worked with the Ivorian winger during his time at Leeds United.

The Sunderland boss is keen to add Gradel to his squad, but is understood to have reservations about the 29-year-old’s fitness record. Gradel suffered a serious knee injury shortly after joining Bournemouth in a £7m move from St Etienne in August 2015, and was restricted to just 11 Premier League substitute appearances last season.

As a result, Grayson would rather sign him on an initial loan basis, with a view to a permanent transfer next summer if the Black Cats were to win promotion.

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe does not regard Gradel as an integral part of his plans for next season, but Cherries officials have told their counterparts at the Stadium of Light they would rather sell the winger now than loan him out for a season.

Grayson is currently assessing his options, with Gradel having travelled to a training camp in Marbella with the rest of Bournemouth’s first-team squad.

The pair’s previous working relationship is likely to play a role in any future discussions, with Grayson having initially signed Gradel on loan during his time at Leeds before eventually agreeing to a permanent transfer from Leicester.

That was seven-and-a-half years ago, and with his fortunes having nose-dived in the last couple of seasons, Gradel would be keen to link up with Grayson again in an attempt to get his career back on track.

Speaking at the end of last season, the winger said: “It is frustrating at times because I am at an age where I can’t sit on the bench, I must play. I know it is frustrating but you have to take it on board and carry on.

“It has been difficult. I came back from injury and was 100 per cent. I have been working hard every day in training. The manager is there to do a job, he is there to pick the players.”

As well as pursuing Gradel, Grayson is also hoping to wrap up a deal for Everton midfielder Aiden McGeady within the next couple of days.

McGeady is keen to move to the Stadium of Light, and Everton officials have agreed a deal that will see Sunderland pay around £2m to sign the Irishman. However, a number of contractual issues still have to be resolved, and a deal cannot be finalised until McGeady has reached an agreement with Everton.

Sunderland have already signed two players from Everton this month, but while Brendan Galloway made his first appearance for the club in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Hibernian, Ty Browning will not be involved until next weekend at the earliest.

Browning travelled to Scotland with the rest of Sunderland’s squad at the weekend, and trained with his new team-mates yesterday. However, having missed a chunk of the early pre-season schedule, he will not be considered for tomorrow’s friendly at Livingston.

“He’s a little bit behind schedule in terms of where we are with the fitness side of things, so the likelihood is that he won’t be involved on Wednesday,” said Grayson. “He may be involved at St Johnstone on Saturday, but we need to get some more work into him.”

Lamine Kone will be involved at Livingston, even though Burnley have made a formal inquiry about his services as they look to secure a replacement for Michael Keane, who recently joined Everton.

Sean Dyche is interested in signing Kone, and Sunderland would be willing to sell if they were offered anything close to the £14m they quoted Everton for the Ivory Coast international last summer. It remains to be seen whether Burnley are willing to go so high, or whether they would be willing to match Kone’s wages, which are understood to be around £60,000-a-week.

Having watched his side concede four goals in their opening two friendly outings against Bury and Hibs, Grayson will be prioritising defensive work for much of the next week.

The new Black Cats boss has extensive experience of life in the Championship, and while he is confident there is sufficient quality in his squad for Sunderland to succeed next season, he accepts some of his players might have to alter their mind-set in order to cope with the demands of the second tier.

“When you’re a team that comes down from the Premier League, you have to have quality,” he said. “There are certain ingredients that are different from the Premier League, and the players are going to have to get into that mind-set.

“Without the ball, you’ve got to stop the opposition from playing, and you’ve got to defend better. Teams in the Championship are probably going to ask more questions of you in a more direct manner.

“We have to deal with that, and that’s what we’re going to be working on a lot over the next four or five weeks before the season starts. With the ball, it isn’t a problem because they wouldn’t be at this club unless they could handle it.”