Five Players Worth A Flyer From Euro 2012

I'm sure your enjoying Euro 2012 as much as we are, and like many other fans you sit and watch games not only enjoying the football, but also using one eye to do a bit of scouting.

We all fancy ourselves as managers and scouts, and it's only natural to consider if they'd be a good fit at Sunderland, for the right price of course, as is often uttered immortally during these conversations that these players would be "worth a cheeky punt"...

Well we've decided to bring a list of players who we think might well just fit that bill. It's worth noting that none of these have been linked with the club as far as we can see, only in our imaginations, but would you consider or be happy to see any of these added to the squad for next season?

1. Michael Krohn-Dehli

Krohn-Dehli isn't probably very high on anyone's wish list. The Dane was a very highly-touted youngster at Ajax, but failed to make any impact with the Dutch giants, and was let go. Impressive performances for RKC in Holland lead to Ajax re-signing him, and again he failed to make an impact before returning to Brondby in his native Denmark.

Brondby are no longer the giants of Danish football, and Krohn-Dehli is far from being the star of the side according to all reports, but it can't be denied that he's been superb for Denmark.

I've not seen any Brondby to really comment on his club form, however having seen Denmark on several occasions when writing up Nicklas Bendtner's performances for this very site last season, Krohn-Dehli was often the star of the side, and their most impressive performer by some distance.

At 29-years old it's unusual that it's taken him so long to find his way to the top of his game, but nevertheless he seems to be at it now, and you'd think there's a chance he could be available in the £2-3m mark. He has little-to-no sell-on value, but when the price is low, it doesn't really matter does it? If we paid £2m and got two good years out of him, it's worth the risk.

Krohn-Dehli can certainly add more as an impact sub than anyone we have currently for my money, despite his advancing years.

2. Gordon Schildenfeld

Schildenfeld has been fantastic this tournament at the heart of the Croatian defence, and has exceeded all expectation for a defender plying his trade in Bundesliga II last season.

Since cementing his place in the side during the Czech's Euro 2012 play-off win over Turkey, he's not looked back and has proved to be one of the more impressive centrebacks of the tournament, and one of the leading lights for Slaven Bilic's impressive side.

Shildenfeld looks every inch a solid (potentially) Premier League defender, and could provide more suitable back-up or competition for Wes Brown, Michael Turner and John O'Shea than Titus Bramble or Matt Kilgallon could.

3. Sebastian Boenisch

Boenisch is an interesting one. He doesn't attract the same high-profile attention as some of the more flashy members of the Polish squad who ply their trade in Germany such as Robert Lewandowski or fellow full-back Lukasz Piszczek, but has been very steady at left-back.

He's endured a torrid time at Werder Bremen, where he only managed one game last season, and was at times relegated to Werder II. a solid and steady fullback, not as forward-thinking as the current holder of the spot, Kieran Richardson, but Boenisch would provide great competition, or even be a welcome replacement should Rico leave as is strongly rumoured.

Interestingly enough, having gone through a poor season with Werder, he's also available on a free transfer, and only 25-years old.

4. Eugen Polanski

Polanski was also impressive for the Poles prior to them dropping out of the competition. A hard-working and combative central midfielder, akin to a Lee Cattermole without the occasional recklessness, or David Vaughan with more pace, and has more attacking verve than either. Polanski could the box-to-box midfielder we need.

He was one of the star performers in the Poles 1-1 draw with Russia at the tournament, and is sure to have attracted interest from many sides around Europe following impressive games in the remaining group games.

Currently, Polanski is plying his trade for Mainz, who have limited budget and resources, and trying to acquire his services shouldn't really require bidding of more than the £2-3m mark.

5. Mario Mandzukic

Mandukic made quite an impact against Ireland. Known as a bit of a hot-head, he is apparently available for a reasonable price after a recent high-profile move to Wolfsburg, and eventually falling out with the German side, they now appear to be willing to cut their losses.

Mandukic proved to be a vertical threat from nearly every set-piece he was a part of, and a handful for defenders. That seems to be exactly the type of player we're looking for, and he could provide a good option in competition with whoever we bring in, be it Steven Fletcher or Louis Saha. There's no such thing as having too many options when it comes to strikers, and Mandzukic could fit the bill. Certainly he'd come in ahead of say Connor Wickham and Ji Dong-Won, who could well be farmed out on loan for further experience

Honourable Mentions

Greece's Dimitris Salpigidis might be getting on a bit, but his energetic displays have defied his age, and he could well be worth a low-priced punt to add some extra energy and attacking threat to the squad.

Denmark's Simon Busk Poulsen, currently plying his trade for AZ Alkmaar, has also looked good from the left-back spot, and if we're looking at strikers, Nicklas Bendtner has been remarkably impressive as the Danes found themselves unlucky not to get out of the group stages.

Theodor Gebre Selassie was at the top of this list, but due to him signing or Werder Bremen this morning, we've had to remove him and bump a few other's around. I can't help but feel he'd have been an excellent signing though.