Sheff Wed keen on signing Lee Cattermole

The Championship outfit are managed by Steve Bruce, who has previously managed Cattermole at both Sunderland and Wigan Athletic.

The midfielder is among the higher earners at the Stadium of Light and still has another two years on his contract.

With Sunderland facing up to another season in the third tier they will have to cut the wage bill and Cattermole, in line for a testimonial this summer, could depart.

Wednesday’s interest has been known for some time but his wages could put a stop to their interest.

Sunderland owner Stewart Donald has previously said Cattermole deserves a testimonial for his impact at Sunderland over the past ten years.

One possibility is to use the home friendly at the Stadium of Light this summer as the game to mark Cattermole’s contribution.

Speaking to the Roker Rapport Podcast, Donald said: “I think Lee Cattermole should get his testimonial, yes. I think he deserves it.

“We had a conversation this time last year about Lee when we first came in, regarding his agent and the bottom line is, from the moment I’ve met him and seen him around the place, you can’t begrudge a penny that the boy earns.

“His contract is his contract. Everyone makes a lot of it and it is expensive to the club, but my god does the boy care about the club and try.

“He’s done that continually for loads of seasons.” And Donald has hinted that a testimonial could even take place this summer and could tie-in with the one pre-season friendly scheduled to take place at the Stadium of Light.

“I’m not quite sure what the rules around testimonials are,” he admitted.

“But I think we had one game planned here for the summer and I did wonder whether we should hijack that for his testimonial.

“I haven’t had that conversation, but I think he should have one, is fully deserving of one as a club we should make sure that happens.”