Stoke City closing in on loan deal for Josh Maja

Stoke City are closing on a loan deal for Josh Maja from Bordeaux.

The 23-year old former Sunderland striker had a spell on loan at Fulham last season and Stoke manager Michael O'Neill hopes he can help propel his side towards the play-off places.

Maja has played just 45 minutes of football across four appearances so far this season, after missing the first three months of the campaign with a back injury. 

Having featured in the French Cup twice over the past two months, he made his Ligue 1 debut for the season on January 16 in a 6-0 loss against Rennes and played against Strasbourg last week.

Earlier this week, French newspaper L'Equipe reported Maja had also attracted interest from Birmingham and Blackburn, two of Stoke's Championship rivals.

Serie A strugglers Venezia, Alaves, who are currently second-bottom in LaLiga, and at least two MLS clubs are also understood to be interested in the London-born forward.

However, Maja, who featured prominently in Netflix's TV series Sunderland 'Til I Die,  has his sight set on a return to England.