Sunderland are in talks over signing Kyle Lafferty, according to a report by the Northern Echo.
The Black Cats are looking to sharpen their attacking options this month by bringing the experienced striker to the Stadium of Light.
Lafferty, who is 32 years old, is in discussions with Phil Parkinson’s side about a proposed move from Norwegian side Sarpsborg.
The Northern Ireland international has racked up over 400 appearances in his career and is wanted by Sunderland to help fire them into the League One Play-Offs during the second half of this season.
Lafferty started his career at Burnley but made a name for himself in Scotland after joining Rangers in 2008. He played 138 games for the Glasgow side during his first spell at the club, scoring 28 goals to help them win the Scottish Premiership title three times.
He moved on from Ibrox in 2013 for spells in Switzerland and Italy at FC Sion and Palermo respectively before returning to the United Kingdom for Norwich City.
Lafferty struggled to hit the ground running at Carrow Road and managed just four goals in three years for the Canaries. He was loaned out to Çaykur Rizespor and Birmingham City before moving back up the border to Hearts in 2017.
20 goals in the 2017/18 campaign earned him a deal at Rangers but he moved back abroad to Norway over the summer.
Lafferty is now edging closer to joining Sunderland and despite Hearts being interested in re-signing him, it is the Black Cats in the driving seat at the moment.
