Sunderland have made bids for Sami Hyypia, the Liverpool centre back, and Tal Ben-Haim, the Manchester City player, whom Ricky Sbragia hopes to sign on loan for the remainder of the season.

Ben-Haim, the Israel defender, joined City from Chelsea for £5 million last summer, but has been an irregular member of Mark Hughes’s team. Sbragia, the Sunderland manager, has been desperate to add an experienced centre half to his squad and the arrival of Hyypia or Ben-Haim would more than compensate for the recent departure of Pascal Chimbonda to Tottenham Hotspur.

Decent bets

West Ham have allowed Julien Faubert to talk to Real Madrid about moving on loan until the end of the season. The versatile Frenchman moved to Upton Park from Bordeaux in the summer of 2007 for £6.1 million but suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon within weeks of his arrival that kept him out for six months. Further injuries and inconsistent form have continued to blight his time in East London.

Giles Barnes was having a medical at Fulham last night before a proposed loan move from Derby County. Leeds United have told Fulham to raise their offer for Fabian Delph to £5 million after making a £2.5 million bid for the midfield player. Delph, 17, would be a replacement for Jimmy Bullard, who joined Hull City for £5 million last week.

Portsmouth have expressed an interest in Marlon Harewood, the Aston Villa forward who has started one league match since he moved from West Ham 18 months ago. Stoke City have made an approach for Guirane N’daw, the Nantes and Senegal midfield player who is out of contract in 2011.

Dead certs

Chelsea have signed Gokhan Tore from Bayer Leverkusen for an undisclosed fee. The 17-year-old attacking midfield player, who was born in Germany but has Turkish nationality, has agreed a 3½-year deal.

James Harper’s proposed move to Middlesbrough collapsed last night after a fee for the midfield player could not be agreed with Reading, who value him at about £5 million. Steven Mouyokolo has agreed to join Hull for £1.8 million in the summer. The defender, 22, will remain on loan at Boulogne for the rest of the season.

West Bromwich Albion have withdrawn from a proposed deal to sign Youssouf Mulumbu after they were unable to agree a fee with Paris Saint-Germain. The midfield player had to cancel a trial this week when the French club refused to allow him to go. They wanted to consider only a permanent deal for the 21-year-old Democratic Republic of Congo player.