TORE Andre Flo and Marcus Stewart will today join Sunderland in an £8m double deal after Peter Reid finally struck gold in his Search for a Striker.

Flo is arriving from Rangers for a club record £7m, while Ipswich Town agreed to let Stewart leave for an initial fee of around £1m.

It represents a success for Reid, who by his own admission has been driven "bonkers" in his attempts to provide Kevin Phillips with a strike partner.

Now, having for a long time been staring at major transfer market disappointment ahead of tomorrow's deadline, Reid has convinced two proven goalscorers to move to the Stadium of Light after working hard all summer to increase his attacking options.

Sunderland's move for Flo was on hold after Rangers held out for £8m for a player who cost them £12m from Chelsea less than two years ago, while the Black Cats offered £6m.

But a breakthrough was reached yesterday, allowing 29-year-old Flo to head to Wearside last night to undergo a medical.

His agent Gunnar Martin Kjenner was due to fly in to Manchester Airport before travelling to Sunderland, where he is expected to rubber-stamp the transfer today.

Reid made another attempt to capture Flo after the season-long loan deal for Nantes' Pierre-Yves Andre fell through.

Nantes president Jean-Luc Gripond said last night: "We were approached by Sunderland on Wednesday evening and more seriously today, and the player was also contacted.

"We said we wouldn't stand in his way and we were ready to sit down around a table, but Pierre-Yves does not wish to go to Sunderland and the matter is closed."

Flo first visited Wearside a fortnight ago but he looked likely to stay at Rangers, whose manager Alex McLeish had already told him he was surplus to requirements, until at least January before Sunderland stepped in again.

Stewart, also 29, headed to the North-East on Wednesday evening after Ipswich approved his departure as part of their cost-cutting programme following relegation.

He scored 19 goals in 34 league games in his debut Premiership season in 2000-01, but he managed just six in the last campaign as he battled against injury.

His fee will increase by another £500,000 depending on appearances for the Black Cats.

Stewart has struggled to command a regular place in the Ipswich team recently and Town manager George Burley said last night: "There will be at least one player leaving in the next 24 hours, we would think."

Flo and Stewart need to complete their moves by noon to be available for the home Premiership game against Manchester United.

Even if they do not sign before noon, however, their arrival ahead of tomorrow's 5.30pm transfer deadline will go a long way towards easing concerns among fans that their club face a long, hard winter battling relegation.

Sunderland have been crying out for at least one more striker for over a year, and Niall Quinn's deteriorating fitness and the failure of Lilian Laslandes and Patrick Mboma to settle on Wearside put Reid's actions in the transfer market under close scrutiny.

Wednesday's 1-0 win over Leeds United did not disguise Sunderland's desperate need for extra firepower, as Claudio Reyna acknowledged.

He said: "It's no secret that we definitely have to get a striker.

"Hopefully our performance against Leeds was enough to encourage someone to come.

"The market is really strange and it's difficult for the manager to bring someone in for the right price. But it's important that he does."

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