US trialist turns down Sunderland offer - will Stead still come?

American striker Clint Mathis has ended his trial at Sunderland in the face of a moneyspinning offer from German club Hanover.

Mathis, 26, had had trials with Leicester City and Rangers prior to arriving at the Stadium of Light, and was expected to join Hanover at their winter training camp on Monday - but instead travelled to the North-East at Mick McCarthy's request.

Mathis had scored nine goals in 22 games with US side Metrostars, but has failed to score in his last eight games. Over his last four seasons, he has netted 33 times.

Hanover coach Ralf Rangnick hinted that money would probably be the deciding factor, saying Sunderland would need to make "an offer (Mathis) can't refuse" to stop him signing for the German club - and it seems that Hanover came up with an acceptable deal, where cash-strapped Sunderland couldn't.

It's understood that Hanover have offered Mathis a three-and-a-half year deal, and his agent David Baldwin said, "Mick McCarthy was keen to keep him but, with the way finances are in the First Division, the club simply cannot match an offer from a good Bundesliga outfit.

"He liked the club very much but the deal had to be right; it is just the way things are in football at the minute, he had a good offer and he has decided to take it."

Mathis is now expected to join his new Bundesliga colleagues in Turkey where they are preparing for the resumption of their campaign after the winter break.

But the American's decision doesn't spell the end of Mick McCarthy's search for new blood to help with Sunderland's promotion campaign. Although former Reading player Jamie Cureton wasn't awarded a deal after his recent trial, Wolves' Kevin Cooper was, and Sunderland are still monitoring the progress of Huddersfield's highly-rated Jonathan Stead. Stead, 20, is the third division's current top scorer, even outranking the impressive Lee Trundle of Swansea - but an £800,000 bid for the Terriers' player was turned down last month with his employers preferring to wait for any potential Premiership interest during the January transfer window.

SAFC vice-chairman John Fickling confirmed today that the club ARE still monitoring Stead: "Our interest in Jon Stead at Huddersfield is well documented and that is still ongoing. The initial bid was made and the clubs have stayed in touch.

"In the case of a player like Stead, you are investing in the future as well as the present. He is a player Mick believes could come in a make an immediate impact and we can see him having a bright future."

Fickling also confirmed that McCarthy would continue to investigate loan moves for the remainder of the season, as well as taking on more trialists.

"Mick is continuously bringing in trialists and looking at loans. This is not us doing things on the cheap, this is the way football is going now.

"Mick McCarthy is very keen to strengthen. As a board, it is our job to try and help him do that, but we have learned to our cost that throwing money at it does not necessarily solve a problem.

"We are allowed to bring in eight loan players over the course of the season and that is an avenue we can seek to pursue."

Sunderland currently have Wolves' Kevin Cooper on a three month loan, having previously signed Alan Quinn and Stewart Downing on temporary deals.