Sunderland are working the Scottish transfer market.
The Journal says the Black Cats are understood to have had a scout at Alloa over the weekend as Hearts - who have promising centre-back Jordan McGhee - won again in the Scottish second tier.
It is a market that the Wearsiders have watched in recent years and they were knocked back in a move for John Souttar of Dundee United. They were also sniffing around Ryan Gauld, the promising winger who eventually signed for Sporting Lisbon.
