Sunderland set to beat Fulham to £5m signing of Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone

The occasional England international will take a pay-cut

Tom Huddlestone (GETTY IMAGES)

Sunderland are understood to have agreed a £5m fee with Tottenham for the transfer of Tom Huddlestone.

The occasional England international has long been linked with a move to Fulham, but the Black Cats are the first club to have matched Spurs' valuation of the 26-year-old.

The Evening Standard report that Huddlestone, who was made available for transfer by Spurs, has been given permission to discuss personal terms with Sunderland.

It's also understood that Huddlestone will have to take a pay cut to move to the Stadium of Light.

He is believed to be on around £40,000-a-week at White Hart Lane but Sunderland are only prepared to pay the England international £35,000-a-week. There are also concerns that Huddlestone will struggle to pass his medical having suffered a major ankle injury two years ago.

But he was able to make 28 appearances for Spurs last term and hopes the move will be able to go ahead as planned. The club are looking to let several more players leave to make room for further arrivals, including Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke.

They have only signed Brazil midfielder Paulinho so far but coach Andre Villas-Boas continues to be interested in Ajax midfielder Christian Eriksen.

Spurs had been facing competition from Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund but the latter have pulled out of the race after completing a deal for Shakhtar Donetsk star Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Eriksen’s agent, Martin Schoots, has confirmed he is in talks with teams who are interested in the 21-year-old. He said: “We are still keeping in touch with certain clubs. That will always be the case with a player like Christian. It is hard to tell if it will end up with a transfer.”

But Valencia have told Spurs that striker Roberto Soldado is not for sale, while they’re also going to miss out on both Dinamo Zagreb youngsters Tin Jedvaj and Alen Halilovic.

They had agreed a £17m fee for the duo but Jedvaj is now in talks with Roma and the latter’s family pulled out of the deal.