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Sunderland have in a story both strangely timed and boasting astonishing figures been linked with a £31.6 million bid for FC Copenhagen’s Paraguayan striker Federico Santander.

The Black Cats’ very ownership is the subject of other reports on Tuesday morning, with Ellis Short said to be sounding out potential buyers of the club.

That would make any imminent transfer plotting highly unlikely, even outside of the market window.

But it is also the fee quoted by Paraguayan media outlet ABC that seems equally questionable.

The Wearside outfit are desperate for improved firepower.

Rooted to the bottom of the Premier League after four seasons in five spent battling against relegation, the burden of goalscoring responsibility at the club remains squarely on the shoulders of Jermain Defoe.

In terms of forwards, David Moyes was able only to bring Victor Anichebe to Sunderland in the summer, and the Nigerian is far from prolific.

Santander has scored 17 goals in 42 games since joining Copenhagen from homeland Club Guarani in June 2015, when the 25-year-old signed a five-year contract.

He had a goal ratio of one in three games in domestic football, one in five during a loan spell at French club Toulouse but struggled in Argentina.

He has one goal in six games for Paraguay.

As such, while Sunderland will feel the strong need to sign a new striker when the transfer window reopens in January, any move for Santander appears unlikely if a valuation of £31 million is correct.