Sunderland will target Chelsea midfielder Josh McEachran to replace the outgoing Jack Colback this summer, reports The Journal.
The report points out that the youngster - who seems to have been around forever yet is still only 21 - is well known to former Chelsea duo Gus Poyet and Lee Congerton. The player himself recently said he has not given up hope of making the grade at Stamford Bridge, but you'd have to question whether or not he had the makings of an archetypal Jose Mourinho midfield player, and in all honesty he could probably do with kick-starting his career somewhere.
Poyet, meanwhile, has declared himself unbothered by the recent criticism that has come his way from supporters. He is quoted in the Sunderland Echo saying:
I’m being totally honest. I don’t care what criticism comes my way.
Fair enough really. Show me a manager who crumbles under criticism and I'll show you a manager not worth following.
The Mail, however, report that Poyet has a clause in his contract enabling him to walk away without any kind of compensation fee due to Sunderland if he keeps us up. We are just not feeling optimistic enough to make that story worth commenting upon right now.
One man who is feeling optimistic, though, is Fabio Borini. The on-loan Italian declared to SAFsee:
It would change everything. It would change the mentality and bring a bit of positivity to the club. We have got three games against the teams that are just above us so it would give us confidence.
He's right, but talking about winning is easy, isn't it.