More important areas to spend money on first so keep the £2.5 million for the full back spending spree
His days are numbered I reckon - my Italian is not great but this doesn't paint a pretty picture http://www.blackcats.quellichelapremierleague.com/uncategorized/mcclean-non-piace-a-di-canio/ McClean does not like Di Canio. (or is it the other way round?)
@greekfooty Latest on Mavrias: He is now supposed to go to Sunderland on August 1st. SAFC will pay Panathinaikos â¬1.5m up front (that's 50% of the fee)
Sunderland's bid for Charas Mavrias is back on, with the Greek winger expected to travel to England next week. The Black Cats’ £2.5m move for the Panathinaikos youngster hung in the balance 10 days ago, as it looked as though Sunderland’s interest had cooled. But it appears that the deal will now go ahead, with sources in Greece suggesting that Mavrias is due to fly to the North East on Monday to undergo a medical and complete the switch, once Sunderland have returned from Hong Kong where they have been taking part in the Barclays Asia Trophy. While Mavrias looks set to become Sunderland’s 10th summer signing, Lee Cattermole’s days on Wearside look numbered. Black Cats boss Paolo Di Canio was non-committal when asked whether the midfielder has a future at the club. The Italian would only say: “We will see. It depends.” The 25-year-old former Middlesbrough and Wigan Athletic midfielder underwent knee ligament surgery in March, and stayed in the North East to continue his rehab rather than travelling with the rest of the squad to the Far East. Meanwhile, Sunderland are set to face Manchester City in the BAT final at the Hong Kong Stadium this afternoon – assuming the weather does not intervene. The Black Cats’ semi-final against Spurs on Wednesday was affected by a downpour that forced kick-off to be delayed by half-an-hour and the game to be shortened to 80 minutes. Heavy rain has continued over the last 48 hours, and Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has said that he will call off the final between Sunderland Man City, and the third-placed play-off between Spurs and South China FC which is also due to be played today, rather than put the safety of the players in jeopardy. But Sunderland coped reasonably well with the conditions, and winger Adam Johnson is confident the conditions will not pose a major problem as he prepared to face his old club City.
Echo reporting Thursday? Hope it's today this lad as back up for giacc, McLean off the books. Catts to go due to high wages I Reckon which paves the way for that creative midfielder. A couple of fullbacks and I think we are looking pretty good. Need to sort out those with only a year left on their contracts.
I think RB in particular we are utterly desperate. We do need the creative midfielder, BUT we could use Sess there if needs be and play any 2 of Fletch, Jozy, Whickham, Mandron, Ji up top. Jack is a smashing LB, Gards is an 'adequate' RB, we need to sort both but LB is a massive priority. I seen a Reto Ziegler link somewhere, and I remember him being very, very impressive for Sampdoria, seems to have disappeared of the planet since signing for Juve.
McClean NOT LIKE Di Canio It is virtually complete the experience at Sunderland Irish wing James McClean. Since the early days of retreat, the attitude, the ways and the desire of the player to emerge am not been evaluated positively by the technical staff led by the Italian manager. Black Cats of Italy siam We also witness the sentence: "that guy because I did get!??" Di Canio told by his staff on the bench during the friendly match against Chiasso. From the pictures from Hong Kong where the team is participating in the Asian tour completing the preparation you never see the midfielder, who probably works in part and will soon be sold. Uphill instead quotes Colback, who was also targeted by the boss, but the latest performance and malleability of roles probably will not exclude the guy coming from the Academy rose from 2013-14.
If we sell Catts he MUST be replaced with a like to like and nothing else. If Cabral gets injured then we have no DM for away games and for the top 5 teams. It happened last season when Catts got injured. up till that point we had one of the best defence records in the league. we finished playing a box to box mf as a make shift DM, and although Alfie improved, we were all over the shot defensively. How can we improve if lessons aren't being learnt?
@SAFCsource Mavrias and his agent will travel to England on Thursday to complete his €3.1m (with €1.5m up front) move to
WITH Sunderland edging closer to landing Greek winger Charis Mavrias, James McClean's future appears to be in limbo with Celtic ready to look elsewhere for attacking options. Paolo Di Canio is expected to complete his tenth summer signing later on in the week with Panathinaikos winger Mavrias, who can also play at left-back, due on Wearside for a medical on Thursday. The deal was in doubt last week after Sunderland reportedly cooled their interest in the player because his current employers were digging their heels in over the transfer. However, the clubs have now reached an agreement over the fee, with the Black Cats reportedly paying £1.2m up front, which will rise to £2.5m later. Di Canio was keen to bolster his creative ranks during the transfer window and has already signed Italian winger Emanule Giaccherini, who has started on the left side on midfield with Adam Johnson on the right in Sunderland's last two pre-season outings in the Asia Trophy. With Stephane Sessegnon capable of playing a wide role and the imminent arrival of Mavrias, McClean appears to be slipping even further down the pecking order at the Stadium of Light. The Republic of Ireland international failed to build on his debut season in the Premier League during the last campaign and his off-field controversies have left his future at the club uncertain. Celtic were reported to have made an inquiry for the former Derry City man over the weekend, but sources North of the border believe manager Neil Lennon is looking at Ajax's Derk Boerrigter instead. Lennon's assistant, Gary Parker, faced the media after Celtic's friendly defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach and denied the Bhoys had made a bid for McClean. Meanwhile, despite being heavily linked with a move away from the Stadium of Light, Sessegnon insists he is happy at the club. Reports earlier in the summer suggested the Black Cats were willing to cash in on the Benin international as Di Canio builds his own squad, but the attack-minded player appears to be enjoying life under his new manager. "The speculation is OK, I have no problem with that. But I'm happy at Sunderland," Sessegnon revealed. "We've worked very well in pre-season, and hopefully we can continue like this. "I'm enjoying it at Sunderland, and my mind is for Sunderland now." Di Canio's arrival seemed to galvanise the 29-year-old in the latter stages of last season and Sessegnon admits the squad are in great shape following their first pre-season under the Italian. He said: "It's a very important time, you need to have a pre-season. You need to do the hard work to start the season well. "I think that affected me during the first few months of last season. "But this year is different because we've had a good pre-season, with a lot of good players coming. That's made everyone work hard in training, and we've got a strong mentality too among the players. "It looks good already for the start of the season." Sunderland will complete their pre-season schedule when they travel to Denmark to face FC Midtjylland next week. The game will take place at the MCH Arena in Herning, on Wednesday, August 7, in a 6pm kick-off (local time). Ticket details for the trip to face the Danish Superliga side will be announced shortly.
