Deano bid rejected..

Reading have had a £1.2m bid rejected by Sunderland for player of the season Dean Whitehead.

The newly promoted club want to add Whitehead to their midfield ranks along with Wolves midfielder Seol Ki Hyeon, for who they have had a £1m bid accepted.

However they have had no such luck with their bid for Whitehead, as Sunderland chief executive Peter Walker confirmed,

‘The club has received an offer for Dean, but this has been rejected. Dean is an important part of our plans.’

Indeed in a season where Sunderland managed only 15 points, setting a new Premiership record in the process, Whitehead was one of few players to finish the season with some form of reputation intact.

Meanwhile, another Sunderland midfielder, Grant Leadbitter, who has still not signed a new contract with The Black Cats, remains at the club, training alongside his team mates.

However his agent, Ian Elliott, has been charged by The Football Association for three breaches of the rules governing the conduct of players’ representatives by acting as Leadbitter’s agent during contract discussions, despite not having the official right to do so.

Elliott has until July 19 to respond to the charges.