Arthur Masuaku is on Sunderland's radar, according to the Sunderland Echo.

The local publication have reported that the Black Cats sent scouts to watch Masuaku in action for Olympiakos in the Champions League last week, with the Greek side defeating Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 in the game.

The 22-year-old left-back is under contract in Greece until the summer of 2018, but Sunderland are keen to get a deal done for him in the New Year when the January transfer window opens.

Defensive woes have plagued Sunderland's season

Sunderland head into the two week international break sat second-from-bottom in the Premier League table, four points from safety with just six points from their opening 12 games.

In those dozen fixtures, the Black Cats have kept just one clean sheet, and that was again 10 men as they overcame local rivals Newcastle United 3-0 in the Tyne-Wear derby.

Despite previous manager Dick Advocaat recruiting heavily in the summer, especially at the back as he brought in four defenders, it has been errors at the back and the amount of goals leaked that have really hurt Sunderland, and so it comes as little surprise that Sam Allardyce is looking at defenders he can bring in in January.

Black Cats will face fierce competition for target

However, drawing Masuaku to Wearside will be far from straight forward for Allardyce and his team.

The Frenchman is currently playing Champions League football with Olympiakos and is a regular in their side, week in week out.

Whilst the opportunity to play in England could sway him, he will be playing at the bottom of it with Sunderland and will be in for a relegation scrap, not a search for silverware.

Elsewhere, Italian giants Roma, Juventus and Internazionale have all sent scouts to watch Masuaku in recent times, with the former even in talks with the player during the summer.

It will take some serious persuading to tempt Masuaku into a scrap for survival over a potential title race, and he is sure to cost a pretty penny if Allardyce manages this, given the time remaining on his current deal and the other clubs pursuing him.