Transfer Rumours The Sunderland Links/Transfer Rumours Thread - Summer 2025

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Robertson said:
Noah Sadiki explains why he snubbed Leeds to join Sunderland

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https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/25300166.noah-sadiki-explains-snubbed-leeds-join-sunderland/

NOAH Sadiki has revealed he snubbed Leeds United and Frankfurt to join Sunderland - and says not even the prospect of playing in the Champions League could tempt him to turn down the Black Cats. Sadiki completed his £17.5m move last week and has now revealed he was "sold" on the switch to Sunderland from the moment he first met club officials....

"The transfer was leaked on July 2nd , and I knew there was interest two days earlier," he said in a new interview with Nieuwsblad in Belgium. "Before that, I tried to put my phone aside as much as possible, because the rumours were getting louder and louder. I was basically just waiting for the call from my agent. Eventually, he explained to me that Sunderland were interested in my profile, and I had a meeting with the board. And from that moment on, I was sold."

He added: "Wolfsburg's name was being bandied about, but I never spoke to their board. In fact, I only spoke with people from Sunderland, Frankfurt, and Leeds, who had also submitted a bid. Choosing Sunderland is also a kind of bet with myself. I want to know what it's like to play in the best league in the world and see where I stand against better teams. Just before I left, I went to training again and reiterated how proud I was to have been part of this team. And afterward, some people teased me a bit about my choice for Sunderland. Especially Ross Sykes [Union Saint-Gilloise defender] who's a Newcastle fan, Sunderland's big rivals. Although they mostly said my transfer was deserved!"

Union Saint-Gilloise, who Sadiki joined from Anderlecht in 2023, won their first Belgian title in 90 years last season and are now preparing for the Champions League. But even the prospect of getting a first taste of Europe's elite competition couldn't change Sadiki's mind when it came to his exit this summer.

"It was clear to me that I would leave," he said. "Before the season, I'd already spoken to Chris O'Loughlin [Union Saint-Gilloise's sporting director] about it. He told me I could leave after the season. And although some people tried to convince me after last season with the Champions League argument, they couldn't change my mind.

"I definitely made a lot of progress last season. The Noah Sadiki who left Anderlecht is no longer the same as the one who left Union. They're two completely different players. I left Anderlecht with a desire for revenge and wanted to prove I could handle the level of the first-team. I think I've proven and won everything in Belgium. Although, of course, we'll have to wait and see what the training sessions at Sunderland will bring."

Sadiki isn't daunted by how much Sunderland have paid to secure his signature.

He said: "As I've said in the past: I don't really know anything about numbers. I just know it's a lot of money. As I said, I'm not the same person as when I left Anderlecht. I sometimes hear now that if this or that had happened, they would have kept me. But if and when doesn't buy you anything, right? My time there taught me that you have to realise that you don't get anything for nothing and that in football, anyone can disappoint you.

"When I joined Union in the summer of 2023, there were a lot of doubts. I even doubted myself. But the staff and my teammates reassured me by saying that they had not brought me in for nothing and that I had the qualities to succeed. So it is thanks to them that I have regained my self-confidence and I will not forget that in a hurry."
Click to expand...

What he actually said was

Who the ****ing hell are Leeds
 
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Smug in Boots said:
"Dam. Being a Brighton fan is becoming stressful. Simon Adringa is a hell of a winger and African Nations cup winner so they have a hell of a winger and for £20 million. Dam."
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I have an ex from about forty years ago, ( I know! Very long story, Mrs Rowley has even met her!). She still goes to Brighton and we keep in occasional touch. Her bloke is an ex pro.

I'll ask her we what she thinks.
 
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TopCat. said:
Wonder if the Adingra deal was done when the Watson deal was negotiated. Obviously on condition we got promoted.
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Stated elsewhere was part of the deal to swap Watson fir this lad but something fell through its in the public domain if you want to search it out I read it earlier somewhere but forget
 
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