Report: Jan Kirchhoff is holding up his transfer to Sunderland

Jan Kirchhoff is just his own signature away from being a member of Sunderland AFC. Kicker reports that Bayern Munich and Sunderland have come to an agreement to sell with both a fee and contract terms negotiated between the teams.

The former German youth international has been the subject of interest from the English club for several weeks and is in all likelihood on his way out at Bayern Munich. However, Kirchhoff has yet to commit to the deal and is also the subject of interest from several other Bundesliga clubs. As Kirchhoff is currently in Qatar on winter break with the Bayern Munich first team it's hard to say when, or if, this deal will culminate. Bayern Munich don't arrive back in Germany until the end of next week .

Given that Kirchhoff has been off for the past two weeks on break, it's not an altogether surprising situation considering returning to peak fitness would likely be ideal if his goal is to slot directly into the Sunderland first team. That in many ways goes double given that they that need massive help in defense. But with several Bundesliga clubs also in the mix, it's hard to tell whether this is simply just fitness related or if there are other pokers in the fire.