Swansea City offered Ki Sung-Yueng to Sunderland for a price of £10 million over the summer.
The Sunderland Echo says Sunderland boss Gus Poyet was eager to sign Ki on a permanent basis, albeit he became less of a priority as last season drew to its conclusion.
But it is understood that Sunderland gave up on signing Ki by the end of June after Swansea were looking for a £10m fee, despite the former Celtic man entering the final 12 months of his contract.
