• Goalkeeper suffered knee injury in Sunderland’s defeat by Manchester United • Pickford may require surgery and could spent three months on the sidelines

Sunderland’s hopes of avoiding relegation appear to have been dealt a significant blow after the goalkeeper Jordan Pickford sustained a serious looking knee injury during the team’s Boxing Day defeat at Manchester United.

Pickford’s precise prognosis will be confirmed by a specialist but initial assessments from Sunderland’s medical staff indicate the England Under-21 goalkeeper, who has undergone scans, could be sidelined for at least three months.

It remains unclear whether the 22-year-old will require surgery but David Moyes will be alarmed at losing a player who has been in outstanding form for the struggling side this season.

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Pickford is likely to be replaced by his understudy, Vito Mannone, at Burnley on New Year’s Eve and at home to Liverpool on Monday but his injury may disappoint Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United. They have all been watching Sunderland’s young goalkeeper and may have been prepared to bid for him during the January transfer window.

Although Pickford – who took over from Mannone in August after the Italian fractured an elbow – is contracted to Sunderland until 2020, Moyes was believed to be open to selling him in January, providing he could be loaned back to them for the remainder of the season.

With Sunderland £140m in debt and their £73m wage bill leaving them perilously close to breaching Premier League wage cap rules, Moyes will need to sell before he can buy next month and there is little doubt the squad needs strengthening.

A spate of injuries – the majority affecting knees – have not helped his cause. Duncan Watmore and Paddy McNair are already ruled out until next season while Jan Kirchhoff, Lee Cattermole and Lynden Gooch will not return until mid-March at the very earliest.