Simone Pepe's agent has denied that the Udinese winger is in talks with Sunderland. The 25-year-old, who has also been linked with Fiorentina, is said to be high on Steve Bruce's wanted list.

"I know nothing about that," Giovanni Branchini told Calciomercato.

"Should this have been true, then I would have known about it.

"There are no real negotiations at the moment."

Branchini also suggested that Pepe was concentrating on getting into Italy's World Cup squad rather than his own future.

"Being a World Cup year, each type of market is postponed until after it has finished," he continued.

"Simone is obviously wishing to go to the World Cup. He wants to have a good end to the season."

Udinese sporting director Sergio Gasparin also denied having any contact with Sunderland and Fiorentina.

"Sunderland and Fiorentina on Pepe? There is no foundation to this," he said.

"These are just journalistic ideas. The only thing we think about at the moment is the league, after this season we will evaluate all situations."