Dick Advocaat: ‘We have too many strikers’

Sunderland boss Dick Advocaat has admitted Connor Wickham is being allowed to leave because the club have too many strikers.

The Black Cats, 3.00 to be relegated this season, look set to allow Wickham to join fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace in the next 24 hours after Sunderland accepted a bid over the weekend.

Palace’s £9million bid was accepted for the 22-year-old, who only signed a four-year deal at the Stadium of Light eight months ago.

Palace boss Alan Pardew admitted on Saturday the club were yet to agree personal terms but reports suggest the deal is just days away from completion.

Forwards Danny Graham and Steven Fletcher have just one year left on their current deals and one of them could still leave before the end of the transfer window.

Advocaat also has Jermain Defoe and new signing Jeremain Lens on his books and he admits Wickham was let go due to the amount of strikers available to him.

He told the Shields Gazette: “We have too many strikers and if I could have held on to them all, I wouldn’t really have wanted to sell him at just 22 years of age.

“But we simply had too many players in that position and that’s why the decision was made.”

The Wickham deal is expected to free up some cash, with Sunderland hoping to sign midfield duo Yann M’Vila and Leroy Fer before the end of the window.