O’Neill to discuss loan move with Wickham

Martin O’Neill says he will discuss a loan move with Connor Wickham who has struggled to make an impact under the Ulsterman.

There had been plenty of suggesting that the England U21 international would be loaned back to his first club Ipswich Town this summer, however a move has failed to materialise.

Wickham, 19, has made just five Premier League starts for the Black Cats since arriving last summer in a deal which could be worth north of £10m for Ipswich Town.

Speaking to The Journal, O’Neill admitted that he was looking at moving the 6’3 forward out on-loan to get first-team action:

“I need to speak with him. We don`t have the squad to send a lot of players out at any time. Some of the younger boys last season, we didn`t mind sending them out, we would stagger them so you wouldn`t have too many out at any one time.’

O’Neill did however concede that the size of the squad might scupper a potential move:

“We don`t have, at this minute, the biggest squad in the world after transfer deadline. However, we do have a number of forwards that I can give some thought to.”

O’Neill has also been speaking about the possibility off investigating the free agency market after Stoke City snapped up Michael Owen amongst other deals in the top-flight:

“I think you`d have to have a look at it and see what is out there,” admitted O’Neill.

“If the gap between the windows wasn`t so long – let`s say there was another window that opened at the end of October – then I`d be sitting here pretty well satisfied.

“But January is a long time in coming, and injuries and suspensions between now and then is your major concern.

“So looking at out-of-contract player is not something I would rule out.”