Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has revealed that he would have signed Connor Wickham this summer had it not been for the hefty price tag Ipswich placed on him.
Wickham was linked with Liverpool and Tottenham last season, but ended up moving to the Stadium of Light for a fee of #8million that could rise to #12million.
The England Under-21 international struggled to break in to Steve Bruce's first team following his move to the north east, but was chosen to lead the line in Martin O'Neill's first game in charge last week and impressed, helping the Wearsiders come from behind to beat Blackburn 2-1.
The 18-year-old could start up front for Sunderland in Sunday's visit to north London, but had it not been for the large sum Ipswich demanded for the striker, Wickham may well have found himself turning out for the home side at White Hart Lane instead.
"We kept looking at him. We watched him dozens of times and we liked him but we felt it was a lot of money for him," Redknapp said.
"We have young players here like Harry Kane. He is a bit younger, we like him and we didn't feel we wanted to pay that money for Wickham."
O'Neill ended his 16-month absence from the game two weeks ago when he took over at Sunderland following the departure of Bruce.
The former Leicester boss cut an excited figure on the touchline last weekend as his team came from behind to beat Steve Kean's strugglers and Redknapp thinks O'Neill has the foundations in place to make the club a force again.
"This is a real opportunity for him to have a go at something," Redknapp said.
"Martin will be jumping up and down on the touchline in front of us on Sunday. He has been out for a while. I am sure he is pleased to be back.
"He has had a few opportunities but didn't take them. Sunderland is a great club. For those of us who have been around a long time, we all know what a big club Sunderland is, they have great support there."
Redknapp made nine changes from the team that lost to Stoke for the 4-0 victory at Shamrock in the Europa League in midweek, but will revert to his first-choice line-up against the Black Cats.
Ledley King could miss his third consecutive game after struggling to recover from a knock he took to his problematic knee in training a fortnight ago.
Meanwhile, Sunderland boss O'Neill has backed calls for English football to introduce a winter break.
As snow fell on Wearside, with the 59-year-old and his players finalising their preparations for trip to Spurs, he extolled the benefits of the system he encountered during his time in Scotland.
O'Neill said: "My personal view is that I would love to see it happen, even for a week or two because psychologically, I believe when you start off the season, it's pretty long and it gives you something to think about during that time.
"Even if it was only for a fortnight, I think psychologically, it would help everyone, that's my view.
"When we were in Scotland, I experienced it twice in the five years I was there and one of those years, Celtic reached the UEFA Cup final. I didn't think it was a coincidence myself.
"That's my own view. I have always felt that - still play your new year games, still have that, still have the old tradition of playing Christmas and new year, but after the third round of the FA Cup, maybe take a break then.
"Psychologically, it would be brilliant for Premier League players, and also as Sir Alex Ferguson says, players get tired at the end of the season and are then expected to play in either the big European Championships or the World Cup.
"I think it would help."
Source: DSG
Source: DSG