Sunderland aim to trump Middlesbrough for Kosice midfielder Nemanja Matic.

The Sunday Sun says the Wear-Tees rivals also face competition from CSKA Moscow, Genoa, Udinese and Tottenham for the FC Kosice midfielder.

Matic spent a week on trial at the Riverside last December, a spell cut short by his surprise call-up to the senior Serbian squad.

Allen Bula, Kosice's head of football development, said: "Kosice have received offers from CSKA Moscow, Genoa and Udinese, but no offer has been accepted yet.

"There are also English clubs which have contacted us, and I will have meetings with them this week. We have agreed with Matic that, although we do not want to lose him, we will agree a transfer soon - before we play in the UEFA Europa League - so he is not cup-tied.

"We always knew this player would become a star player in Europe. Kosice's player development programme has shown again that players, when given the right time-frame, will become star players like Nemanja."