Norwich City have confirmed Sunderland are close to a deal for midfielder Dickson Etuhu.

Norwich chief executive Neil Doncaster told the club's official website: "We received an offer from Sunderland for Dickson on Saturday evening which meets a £1.5million buy-out clause in his contract.

"We are very disappointed to lose Dickson obviously, but the simple facts are Dickson turned down the offer of a new, more lucrative contract from Norwich City which was already on the table, in favour of Sunderland's offer - and we are therefore forced to accept their offer under the terms of his contract."