Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce has admitted he tried to lure Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka and Luka Modric to St James' Park, during his time in charge of Newcastle United.

Allardyce will take on his former club when the Black Cats face the Magpies in the Tyne Wear Derby on Sunday.

Ahead of the clash, Allardyce revealed in his new book Big Sam: My Autobiography, that Baines, Jagielka and Modric were among his transfer targets during his seven month spell as Newcastle manager.

"We tried for Leighton Baines at Wigan and Phil Jagielka at Sheffield United, but I got Jose Enrique from Villarreal and eventually Habib Beye from Marseille and Abdoulaye Faye from Bolton on transfer deadline day," Allardyce revealed.

"I was then on the way to getting Luka Modric from Dinamo Zagreb, but by then, Mike saw the scale of the full debt and put the clamps on, so I had to make do with Geremi from Chelsea."