Sunderland fear the improved form of Papy Djilobodji and Lamine Kone will see them robbed of their centre-back pairing when the Africa Cup of Nations kicks off in January.
Djilobodji has not played for Senegal for nearly two years and was not part of the squad which qualified for next month's finals in Gabon.
However, there is talk of the 28-year-old being recalled on the back of his performances for Sunderland in recent weeks.
David Moyes' men have won three of the last four and Djilobodji has impressed having initially struggled following his £8million arrival from Chelsea in August.