Pair set for the Black Cats exit door

Aug 27 2009 By Stuart Rayner, The Journal

GRANT Leadbitter is set for a surprise departure from the Stadium of Light after Ipswich Town were given permission to talk to the midfielder. And right- winger Carlos Edwards could follow him to Portman Road.

Inevitably, Roy Keane has been linked with a host of his former Sunderland players since moving to East Anglia late last season. Just two points and a League Cup exit from Ipswich’s opening six games have made his need much greater.

Leadbitter may not be the only player making the move, with Keane also interested in Edwards and believed to be weighing up offers for Daryl Murphy and Nyron Nosworthy. Leadbitter, the only senior member of the squad who supported Sunderland as a child, is the Black Cats’ longest-serving player and was happy to see the arrival of manager Steve Bruce, who tried to sign him for Wigan Athletic.

"A fee has been agreed between Sunderland and Ipswich for Grant and we have been given permission to open talks with Ipswich," revealed Matthew Buck, the PFA representative who acts as Leadbitter’s agent. "We are heading down for talks now and we will see what happens."

Keane always thought highly of 23-year-old Leadbitter – even if his kind words were not always reflected on the team-sheet – regularly comparing him to former team-mate Paul Scholes.

The man from Fence Houses has made over Black Cats 100 appearances since 2003 and even wore the captain’s armband last season. The England Under-20 and Under-21 international has scored 11 goals for the club.

But his first-team prospects have been reduced by the arrivals of Lee Cattermole and Lorik Cana, both integral to Bruce’s plans, and the emergence of 18-year-old Jordan Henderson, who has graduated from the club’s academy this season.

Bruce had a £3m bid rejected for Leadbitter last season but looks set to separate the midfielder and his beloved club by other means.