Sunderland boss Roy Keane is poised to make his ninth summer signing, with Anton Ferdinand undergoing a medical.
The 23-year-old West Ham United defender travelled to Wearside after the Black Cats agreed a fee, understood to be in the region of £8million, for the England Under-21 international.
Should the deal go through, Keane is hoping it will not be the last, but admitted his recruitment drive is drawing to a close ahead of next Monday's deadline.
The Cork man said: ‘Anton is up for a medical and we hope to get that tied up today.
‘I have got one more player in mind and then that is the end of it for a few months at least - and I think we will all be glad to see the back of it.
‘Anton would be a good signing for us. He is a good age and it would be a good environment for him to come here.
‘He has played a decent number of games and we hope to get that sorted today.’
Ferdinand has rejected the offer of a new contract at Upton Park and Keane, who played with his older brother Rio at Manchester United, is confident he will significantly strengthen the club's defensive resources.
He said: ‘He (Ferdinand) is a good athlete, he is a good age, he has played a good number of games and he is probably ready for a new challenge after coming up through the ranks at West Ham.
‘He has had good experience and he will bring good competition for a place to our club and hopefully we can get him on to another level.’
If Ferdinand does seal his switch to Wearside today, he is unlikely to be involved in tomorrow night's Carling Cup second round trip to Nottingham Forest because of a hamstring problem, which could also keep him out of Sunday's Barclays Premier League meeting with Manchester City.
He is more likely to make his debut at Wigan on September 13.
His impending arrival is likely to mean departures from the Stadium of Light with Russell Anderson in the process of tying up a year-long loan deal with Burnley and others certain to follow him through the exit door.
Sunderland have rejected a bid for fellow defender Danny Higginbotham, who has been linked with former club Stoke and Wolves, but Keane expects movement out as well as in over the next few days.
He said: ‘I would expect one or two (to go). Russell is sorting out a deal, he should be going to Burnley today for a year's loan, and I would expect movement on one or two others, possibly.
‘But then that's out of my hands, that's up to clubs who have made enquiries or who have made bids last week that we turned down, so we will see.’
