Posh 'were offered' Wigan Athletic old-boy

The 28-year-old has endured a frustrating time on Wearside since joining from Latics in January 2019 for a fee rising to £4million.

His record of eight goals in 49 appearances for the Black Cats is way short of his tally of 65 goals in 150 appearances for Latics - including two League One titles.

That led to speculation Sunderland were prepared to sanction an exit only 12 months after signing him - which MacAnthony says was not without foundation.

While Sunderland maintained they would not do business with a fellow third-tier outfit, that didn't stop a speculative agent trying to join the dots.

“He wasn’t offered to us by Sunderland, he was offered to us by an agent,” MacAnthony told the Sunderland Echo, sister paper of the Wigan Post.

“Somehow agents are getting my number, so in the build-up to deadline day you’ll get a load of agents sending you lists of players.

“He was one player that was on an agents list and we were told we could get him for these kind of wages.

“For me, it wasn’t [an option].

“We’ve got League One’s best striker, we’ve got League One’s best teenage striker, and then we’ve got Dembele and Mo Eisa.

“We didn’t need a striker. It wasn’t a case of ‘oh, Will Grigg is available.’

“Any other time, if there was a situation where we needed a striker, I wouldn’t be against it because he’s been prolific at this level.”