Basel Confirm Midfielder Is Sunderland-Bound

FC Basel appear to have confirmed via Twitter that Cabral is moving to Sunderland this summer.

The Swiss champions completed their league program on Saturday with a 1-0 home win over St Gallen, but not before making a presentation to their departing midfielder.

Shortly before kick off, the club's official Twitter account said:

Or, to put it another way...

The game is about to start at the Joggeli (the nickname of Basel's home Stadium St. Jakob Park), but first a few honours. It starts with Cabral, who is moving to Sunderland.

The move has looked a near certainty for a while now, although it can't be officially completed until the Cape Verde-born player's contract expires on the 1st July, and in a typically tight-lipped devotion to formalities, Sunderland themselves are insisting that they haven't actually signed anyone yet.

That said, this would seem to be as official a confirmation as we are going to get at this stage.

Like with most of the players reported to being on the brink of a Bosman switch to Sunderland, it is difficult to form too much of an opinion on Cabral. He is a relatively unknown player playing in a fairly obscure league, though he has impressed in Basel's recent European conquests of Manchester United and Tottenham.