JACK ROSS has turned his attention to the Premier League in a bid to find a fruitful end to Sunderland’s search for a striker.

Having lost out to Bristol City in the battle for Cheltenham’s Mohamed Eisa and found Bradford in no mood to let Charlie Wyke leave, the Black Cats have turned their attentions elsewhere.

Sunderland remain in contact with the Bantams for Wyke, knowing he has entered the final year of his deal and feel that their last offer around the £1m mark should have been enough to do business.

Now Ross is looking at the other targets he has in mind, with top-flight players who are available in his sights – including a bit of young and old from down south.

Watford’s Jerome Sinclair and Brighton’s Sam Baldock have been touted around and are players interesting Sunderland, and there is strong interest in both.

Sinclair is the easier of the two deals to do and is close. The former Liverpool player can play down either flank and is also capable of playing through the middle.

The 21-year-old found it hard to break into the Watford first team after deciding to move from Liverpool rather than sign a new deal at Anfield.

The Hornets had to pay £4m in compensation and are hoping he will fulfil his potential, so they are keen for him to get more first team football under his wing which is why a loan to the Stadium of Light appeals. That should be confirmed within the next 24 hours after a medical.

The challenge during his season-long loan will be to build up his confidence in League One so that he can return to Vicarage Road next summer and battle for a first team place again in the Premier League.

He spent the second half of last season on loan at Birmingham but the move was not the success he had hoped for, even if he did contribute to keeping the Blues up under Garry Monk.

Sunderland’s interest in Baldock is based on experience of what he can do at that level, having scored goals regularly in League One and the Championship. He had spells in the third tier with Wimbledon and Bristol City.

There is a willingness on Wearside to match Brighton’s £1m valuation too, but the battle will be to convince him to head to the North-East from the south coast when he is from Buckingham and Reading are also keen.

The Royals, now managed by Paul Clement, have made a number of signings including former Sunderland man John O’Shea and they can also offer a drop to the Championship rather than below.

Ross would like to think that the prospect of being one of Sunderland’s main strikers and a drive for promotion could be enough to tempt him further north.

Sunderland’s opening League One fixture is edging closer, with Charlton first up on August 4. As things stand they will head into that game with just Josh Maja and Andrew Nelson as their recognised strikers, even if Chris Maguire can play there.

Ross is being updated regularly but Sunderland are known to be working hard on trying to get the deals done. If he could pull off moves for Baldock and Wyke after securing Sinclair then he will be far happier with the situation.

Sunderland continue to look to move players on to so that it will be boost the club financially. Papy Djilobodji has been interesting Caen, while Lamine Kone and Didier Ndong are still at the club despite looking to depart.