Sunderland are interested in bringing Uruguayan defender Sebastian Coates and Italian attacker Fabio Borini to the Stadium of Light before the transfer window slams shut.
23 year old centre back Coates was on loan in Uruguay with Nacional, who are affiliated with Liverpool, last season. Firmly out of the first team picture, a loan move seems the best option for Coates at the moment, possibly with the view of a permanent deal. Coates would provide cover should first team starters Wes Brown or John O'Shea need replacement, with Sunderland saving the majority of their budget for an attacker.
If The Black Cats were to sign Coates on a loan deal, it would mean that Borini would not be eligible to return on loan once again, due to the fact that you can only loan a maximum of one player from a club. Gus Poyet had previously been close to acquiring the Italian for a fee of £14 million, but the player seemed insistent to stay at Liverpool.
AC Milan have also been linked to the attacker, after their striker Mario Balotelli completed a switch to Anfield this week. When asked about the deal, Poyet responded "I think we're getting close to a final decision either way because it's been a bit too long. It's time now that it's a yes coming or a no, as we need to move on.
Asked if the club would set a deadline, he said: "I have asked myself many, many times. I don't know, to be honest, I don't know if we need to put a date on it or not. I don't know.
"It's a daily thing. If something incredible comes in and we need to make a decision then, a player that we cannot say no to, then I am sure there will be a few phone calls saying 'now or never' both ways.
"But at the moment, we haven't found that player, but we will see."
Sunderland take on Birmingham tonight in a Capital One Cup clash, and have started their Premier League campaign with 2-2 and 1-1 draws against West Brom and Manchester United respectively.
