O'Neill is keen on hit man Jelavic as Sunderland boss seeks fresh firepower

By Sportsmail Reporter

Last updated at 10:56 PM on 14th December 2011

The new Sunderland manager is desperate to add firepower to his shot-shy side and Sportsmail understands the Rangers striker is high on his list of targets.

With Nicklas Bendtner and Connor Wickham the only fit out-and-out strikers at the Stadium of Light, O’Neill has prioritised a new front man — and the Croatia international ticks all the boxes.

It is unlikely Rangers would let their star man go for less than L7million and O’Neill must decide if he is prepared to spend the bulk of his January kitty — around L10m — on one player.

O’Neill has a track record of plundering both halves of the Old Firm since leaving Celtic in 2005.

As Aston Villa manager, he signed Shaun Maloney and Stilian Petrov from Celtic and went to Rangers to take Carlos Cuellar a year later.

West Bromwich Albion, meanwhile, are also to the forefront of the chase for the 26-year-old, while Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool have been linked with a move for the Ibrox icon.

One major advantage for Roy Hodgson is the West Midlands side’s willingness to let Graham Dorrans move in the opposite direction to his boyhood heroes, which would solve one problem for Ally McCoist.

While losing Jelavic would undoubtedly be a huge setback to Rangers’ hopes of retaining the SPL title, gaining an attacking midfielder would soften the blow.

For their part, West Brom are the English Premiership’s joint-lowest scorers and badly need that to change to move away from the lower reaches of the table.

Jelavic joined Rangers on a four-year deal from Rapid Vienna for L4m in 2010 and proved an instant hit, scoring 33 goals so far.

"Uopće me ne interesira prelazak u neki drugi klub u siječnju"

"Nisam od onih koji kucaju na vrata menadžerovog ureda kako bi mu prigovarali. Uvijek sam govorio da sam sretan što sam dio Tottenhamove momčadi, jer držim da je ovo izvanredan klub! Uopće me ne interesira prelazak u neki drugi klub u siječnju. Bio sam izvan pogona u većem dijelu sezone i ne razmišljam o ničemu osim o povratku u top formu kako bih se pokušao nametnuti za mjesto u sastavu. Doista niti u jednom trenutku nisam razmišljao o tome što bi se moglo dogoditi u siječnju, ili o tome što se možda neće dogoditi. Sretan sam u Tottenhamu", decidirano tvrdi Kranjčar, odbacujući tako pomisao na odlazak iz kluba sljedećeg mjeseca u bilo kakvim okolnostima.

Pretvara se u Daria Simica..Vjecno na klupi i on zadovoljan