League One big spenders Sunderland are targeting a move for former Ipswich Town loan star Luke Garbutt, it has been reported.

Garbutt is a free agent having been released by Everton at the end of the season, a campaign where he starred on the left at Portman Road.

MORE: ‘Ipswich put him on the market again... I’m not sure if we have a chance’ - Lambert on Garbutt

The 27-year-old scored six times in 30 games, whis his educated left foot proving a threat from set pieces.

The Sunderland Echo report that Black Cats boss Phil Parkinson has made Garbutt one of his summer targets, as he bids to bring in five players to fuel a promotion push next season.

Garbutt will, of course, be in demand this summer, with Town also keen to bring him back to Portman Road, while one imagines he will have other suitors from the Championship and elsewhere.

MORE: ‘I won’t close the door on Ipswich... but I want to play as high as I can’ - Garbutt on his future

Speaking in June, Garbutt told us: “I will never close the door on the possibility of coming back to Ipswich on a permanent basis and it’s something I will definitely consider.

“But as a football player you want to try and play at the highest level you can do. I can’t really comment because I don’t know if there’s an offer on the table from Ipswich or any club for that matter. I can’t say anything.

“I’m a free agent so I’ll let my agent do the negotiations and the business side of it before I make a decision with my family about where I move next and the best football club for me.”