No wonder they gave up on him... SUNDERLANDâS summer pursuit of Ki Sung-Yueng ended abruptly when they were quoted a £10million asking price for the former Black Cats loanee, the Echo can reveal. The Black Cats ended the transfer window with nine fresh faces at the Stadium of Light after South American pair Ricky Alvarez and Sebastian Coates completed the clubâs summer spending spree. But one that got away was Ki after the South Koreanâs successful loan stint at the Stadium of Light last season. Sunderland boss Gus Poyet was eager to sign Ki on a permanent basis, albeit he became less of a priority as last season drew to its conclusion. But it is understood that Sunderland gave up on signing Ki by the end of June after Swansea were looking for a £10m fee, despite the former Celtic man entering the final 12 months of his contract. Swansea had been prepared to offload Ki permanently under ex-manager Michael Laudrup, but since the appointment of successor Garry Monk, the 25-year-old has been part of the first-team plans again at the Liberty Stadium. Ki has subsequently started each of Swanseaâs first three Premier League outings and penned a new contract last week which will keep him with the Welsh side until 2018. âIâm not sure if I would be here if he (Laudrup) was,â said Ki, who made 34 appearances for Sunderland, last week. âI spoke to Garry and he said I was in his plans. He talked about tactics, how the team was going to play this season and he told me he wanted to play. âI had a very good time in Sunderland. I was in a cup final for two years in a row and I grew up more than in my first season at Swansea.â After baulking at Swanseaâs asking price, Sunderland turned their attention to Jack Rodwell and splashed out £10million to bring the England international from Manchester City - their biggest outlay of the transfer window. http://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport/sunderland-afc/sunderland-given-10m-ki-ultimatum-1-6819418
He is nowhere near a £10 million player, although if he could add some attacking prowess to his game he may be in the future..
£33 million, high wages & long contracts for the likes of Ki, Borini & Snodgrass combined. You could've bought Man Utd for less than that a few years back ...... Michael Knighton almost did.
Depends how you look at it. On face value is Ki worth £10m? No Then factor in that James MacArthur went for £7m. Is Ki worth £3m more than him? AbsoFuckinglutely.
