DETAILED: The £750,000 hit Portsmouth have avoided as they get set to unveil Sunderland's Denver Hume as latest January arrival

But the Blues are set to avoid having to to take a substantial financial hit to land the incoming Sunderland man, after he signed a new deal last year.

Danny Cowley is close to landing the 23-year-old as his third January signing - and first permanent addition this month.

Hume is reported to be today having his medical as he travels down from the north east ahead of a £200,000 deal being completed, after being left out of Lee Johnson’s squad for their 1-0 win over Pompey on Saturday.

The Black Cats academy graduate was a free agent last summer and stalled over signing a new deal, before agreeing terms until the summer of 2023 in September, with an option to extend that contract for an additional 12 months.

Although that deal saw Sunderland protect their asset, it’s actually set to be preferable to signing Hume as an out-of-contract player.

The News understands Pompey would have had to pay in the region of £750,000 in training compensation in those circumstances, with the left-sided player at the club since he was eight years’ old.

Sunderland will receive a substantial portion of any future fee for Hume, however, with a sell-on clause of around 25 per cent agreed.

The contract dispute is believed to have led to breakdown in relations between manager and player, with Hume firmly behind summer arrival Dennis Cirkin in the battle to start.

The Black Cats are happy to let the man who’s made 84 senior appearances since his 2017 debut this month.

But Johnson’s other left-back, Niall Huggins, out until March, the former Bristol City boss is keen to bring in some additional cover in that area.

With a deal progressing well on that front that has freed Hume up to depart - and follow Tyler Walker and Hayden Carter into Fratton Park as the January additions so far.

Cowley remains keen on further bolstering his attacking options with Ellis Harrison, John Marquis, Paul Downing, Gassan Ahadme, Miguel Azeez and loan departure Alex Bass all leaving this month.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Get 30 per cent off our sport subscription, which gives readers unlimited access to all our Pompey and grassroots coverage for just 9p a day, by using the promo code JanSports30. The deal expires at midnight on January 31.