Sunderland have bid for FOUR Tottenham players, with Chimbonda top of the list.
The other three are midfielders Steed Malbranque and Teemu Tainio plus defender Younes Kaboul.
Manager Roy Keane had earlier refused to be drawn on the identity of his transfer targets but revealed he wanted to make five or six new signings before the start of the season on August 16.
The Black Cats fly out to Portugal today with no new faces among the party despite being linked with a host of targets including former Toon striker Louis Saha.
Keane: "There are different hurdles to overcome in certain deals, but we have jumped over one or two over the last few nights and I think we are close to some of the deals.
"I am pretty sure that this time next week, we will have plenty of new faces at the club."
The transfer market has been slow-moving so far this summer, and Kevin Keegan has had at least seven players knocked off his "wish list" for one reason or another.
But it would be VERY worrying if the Mackems took a player KK obviously wants to bring to St James' Park.