Sunderland open negotiations for Atletico Madrid midfielder Cristian Rodriguez SUNDERLAND gaffer Gus Poyet is eyeing up an audacious swoop for countryman Cristian Rodriguez from Atletico Madrid. The midfielder is open to the possibility of leaving the La Liga title winners and Champions League runners-up despite last season's hugely successful campaign. Left-winger Rodriguez signed a four-year contract with the Spanish side in 2012 but has not been a regular starter under manager Diego Simeone. The former Paris Saint-Germain player admitted before the World Cup that he could be on the move this summer. "This side [Atletico Madrid] had a great season, but I'd have liked to have played more," said the player, nicknamed Cebolla, before the World Cup. Talking to Uruguayan radio station Sport 890, Poyet confirmed that he wants to bring the £4m rated player to Wearside. "Cebolla is a player who has power, speed and technique and for this he'd easily adapt to English football, and I'd love to have him in my team. "There's been negotiations from Sunderland to sort out his signing, but it's not easy because I'm sure Cristian has a lot of options from all over Europe."
This is how I felt about Giaccherini last summer but that one came off. Heres hoping the same on this one.
Yeah, I'd love it if we could get this one done. I'm not sure how high Gus standing is in Uruguay, but hopefully this helps. I do then think, he's a lefty, AJ is a lefty, what system would we play with both? Rodriguez is very much a winger not someone you could see playing a big part inside, so where does that leave us? 2 left sided wingers killing width? AJ inside? AJ sold? It's a good quality link, but also one that raises a few questions.
n't think it would mean the end for Johnson to fair. He plays better on the right and has massively improved his right foot which has undoubtedly made him less predictable. We need competition and with Johnson Giaccherini Rodriguez and maybe Borini we would have fantastic competition.
I have to be honest, I think AJ is great cover on either wing or even playing behind a striker. He backtracked a lot, through necessity, last season which isn't really his game.
No slur at all on AJ's ability mate, I just fail to see how a team can operate with 2 wide players both left sided. It would leave the channels completely one dimensional. Has AJ the ability to play more central, that's what I'd be thinking, as CR certainly isn't someone I can see playing inside. For sure, both AJ & CR would expect to play.
Can see you're point but I think we were pretty one dimensional last season with johnson and borini both wanting to cut in at any oppotunity. One winger cutting in and one trying to hit the byline may help us open teams up and also a lot of width these days comes from full backs. I know Jones likes to get forward and with Alonso or Rose we could have a few different attacking dimensions from wide positions. This is all theoretical of course and we wont have a true idea of our starting line up till the end of the transfer window really
Very true mate that last line. I guess in simple terms, the question is 'do we want players of Christian Rodriguez calibre at the club'. Absolutely we do.
I agree with that it shows a bit of intent and at the end of the day id love to see a few big names running out at the SoL.
Personally think the Borini deal will die, and at £14million I'm not too concerned about that. I do hope Gus has a plan b & c in place, we understand it's not easy to attract players to Sunderland as things stand, Gus really mus be made clear on that.
I pointed this out on the ALONSO/BORINI LINK - I wrote :- Although I trust Poyet to get his targets, it beggars belief the amount of wide left sided players we would end up with if we got our wishes from all the wanted rumours. I know it's unlikely, but I bet we would like to see all these on the left - Alonso, Rose or Rodreguez, even though we already have Giac and AJ who can play there. Yes it's healthy to have competition for places, but these players, I suspect, would want assurances of first team football, rather than accepting to be squad members. Playing AJ on the right is the only practical option, unless Rodriguez is played left-midfield, however, after that there will be quality first team players warming the bench. Don't get me wrong, accommodating these four would be a welcome headache for Poyet, but how long would he be able to keep them all happy for? I'd love it though !
