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Sunderland’s hopes of signing Yann M’Vila in January have been handed a blow, with reports in Russia that the midfielder is in negotiations over a new contract with Rubin Kazan.

The Russian club have also announced that M’Vila has been added to their registered squad for the Russian Premier League campaign and will wear the number 4 jersey.

The Black Cats had hoped to sign M’Vila this summer after his successful season-long loan on Wearside last season.

However, the club refused to match Rubin Kazan’s price-tag of the player, whose contract is due to expire in December.

There seemed to be movement on transfer deadline day when Yann M’Vila posted on Instagram to reveal he’d arrived in London, prompting speculation he would be signing for Sunderland.

However, David Moyes later revealed that a deal was never made with Kazan and M’Vila was left ‘heartbroken’.

The Black Cats do believe they have a pre-contract agreement in place with M’Vila to join them on a free in January.

However, that is not a guarantee and the Black Cats could be handed a major blow if M’Vila is to perform a major U-turn on his desire to return to the Stadium of Light, and instead sign a new deal with the Russian side.

According to reports in Russia, M’Vila has been added to the registered squad after returning to training with the club this week.

It is reported that new Kazan midfielder Alex Song - formally of Arsenal and Barcelona - convinced M’Vila to rethink his future, and M’Vila is said to be keen on linking up with the Cameroon international as part of a central midfield partnership this season.

Negotiations on a new deal are said to be at an early stage, but club sources sound confident that he will commit his future to them.