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It was a frustrating week for supporters this week, as no new signings were confirmed, there were very few transfer rumours of note and a signing that looked possible completely died out but Gus Poyet is confident of surprising a few in the very near future before we get to any of that, the formalities.
Julian Speroni (Crystal Palace)
Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik (Stade Rennais)
Santiago Vergini (Estudiantes)
Marcos Alonso (Fiorentina)
Caner Erkin (Fenerbache)
Gordan Bunoza (Wisla Krakow)
Will Buckley (Brighton)
Marc Albrighton (Aston Villa)
Raul Meireles (Fenerbache)
Matt Grimes (Exeter)
Josh McEachran (Chelsea)
Diego Capel (Sporting Lisbon)
Fraizer Campbell (Cardiff)
Fabio Borini (Liverpool)
Martin Kelly (Liverpool
Moussa Sow (Fenerbahce)
Bafetimbi Gomis (Lyon)
Ever Banega (Valencia)
Jordon Mutch (Cardiff)
Daniele Dessena (Cagliari)
Giannis Maniatis (Olympiakos)
Christopher Forrester (St Pats.)
Billy Jones (West Brom)
Jordi Gomez (Wigan)
Costel Pantilimon (Man City)
Michael Mancienne (Hamburg)
Kevin Chaurand (Celaya)
Luis Pedro Cavanda (Lazio)
Ashley Williams (Swansea)
Tom Ince (Blackpool)
Luca Cigarini (Atalanta)
William Vainqueur (Standard Liege)
Luciano Vietto (Racing Club)
Kolbeinn Sigthorsson (Ajax)
Paulinho (Livorno)
Curtis Davies (Hull)
Ross McCormack (Leeds)
Yeltsin Tejeda (Saprissa)
Morgan Amalfitano (Marseille)
Rene Adler (Hamburg)
Bryan Ruiz (Fulham)
German Lux (Deportivo La Coruna)
Geoff Cameron (Stoke)
Kurt Zouma (Chelsea)
Andreas Christensen (Chelsea)
Lewis Baker (Chelsea)
Victor Moses (Chelsea)
Panagiotis Kone (Bologna)
Diego Poyet (Charlton)
Enner Valencia (Pachuca)
Jose Holebas (Olympiakos)
Djamel Mesbah (Parma)
Timothee Kolodziejczak (Nice)
Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille)
Jack Rodwell (Man City)
Nabil Bahoui (AIK)
Emmanuel Emenike (Fenerbahce)
Troy Deeney (Watford)
Jordan McGhee (Hearts)
Jamal Lascelles (Nottingham Forest)
Jose Gimenez (Atletico Madrid)
Virgil van Dijk (Celtic)
Carl Jenkinson (Arsenal)
Rod Fanni (Marseille)
Christian Fuchs (Schalke)
Muhamed Besic (Ferencvaros)
Dorin Rotariu (Dinamo Bucharest)
Michael Babatunde (Volyn Lutsk)
Max Clayton (Crewe)
Craig Mackail-Smith (Brighton)
Charlie Austin (QPR)
Samuel Eto'o (Chelsea)
Davide Astori (Calgiari)
Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City)
Giancarlo Gonzalez (Columbus Crew)
Tim Cahill (NY Red Bulls)
Ki Sung-Yueng (Swansea)
Raoul Cedric Loe (Osasuna)
Cristian Rodriguez (Atletico Madrid)
Carlos Bacca (Sevilla)
Leandro Rodriguez (CA River Plate)
Daniel Wass (Evian)
Danny Rose (Tottenham)
Patrick van Aanholt (Chelsea)
Jonathan Biabiany (Parma)
Serge Gnabry (Arsenal)
Ikechi Anya (Watford)
Ogneyi Onazi (Lazio)
Jose Miguel Cubero (Herediano)
Maxime Lestinne (Club Brugge)
Bruma (Galatasaray)
Abel Hernandez (Palermo)
Anthony Stokes (Celtic)
Paolo Guerrero (Corinthians)
Facundo Ferreyra (Shaktar Donetsk)
Christian Atsu (Chelsea)
Only six new names this week but that takes our running total for the Summer transfer window to an impressive 96.
There was not a lot to report this week but the big news was Gus Poyet's frustration at not having more of his squad in place with so little time left in pre-season;
It's clear we need a few new players and it has not been as quick as I would have expected.
We are all waiting. It's the same names, different stage of the season. We are waiting for news.
It's getting a little close to the part where I really want to work with the main squad. I am like any other manager, the sooner you get the players the better.
I hope it is now, today, tomorrow.
It's difficult for me because there are things we need to work on this week. beginning of next week and that's practically it.
The only thing you can do is ensure everything is in place and refresh things that you've done.
One or two, they are close, but if you asked me last week I would say those two were close too. I cannot wait another week.
We are going to be off Monday and Tuesday, so next Wednesday I need to have four new players.
Poyet was feeling much more positive about Sunderland's prospects in the transfer market after the 0-0 draw with Vitoria Setubal, telling reporters after the game;
There are plenty of things going on and I'm looking forward to things happening in the next few days, so it's all positive.
I think we have a great chance (of signing players), a great chance.
People are going to be surprised, which is great. It's all positive.
We've had a few things that before we knew it they didn't work.
But I'm hoping there's going to be some good news over the next two or three days.
One player who will not be joining is Cristian Rodriguez after his potential move fell through this week. Reports in Spain and Uruguay had suggested that the Uruguayan international was at a very advanced stage with his signing described as 'imminent' by a media outlet that is owned by the player's agent, however that move completely collapsed this week with the player now likely to move elsewhere should he leave Atletico Madrid.
Although one Uruguayan is unlikely to join, it wasn't long before Sunderland were linked with yet another of their World Cup squad, as a link with Abel Hernandez one again cropped up.
Hernandez was previously linked with Sunderland last summer during Roberto de Fanti's reign as Director of Football. The Palermo striker, who can also play out wide, does have the extra yard of pace that we need and would be a good addition to the squad. However with the player's agent Pablo Betancourt in England last week drumming up interest in his client, it is hard to not to think that it's just a bit of a lazy link due to our interest in the player last summer and Poyet's comments about being determined to sign a Uruguayan this year.
On a similar note, we were also linked once again with Galatasaray's Portuguese winger Bruma. It had been reported in January that we were on the verge of wrapping up a loan deal for the 19-year-old, only for the deal to be scuppered at the last minute due to the player suffering a serious knee injury, with a document claiming to be Sunderland's official offer leaked to the Turkish press.
Despite the player only just returning to pre-season training with the Turkish giants after his injury, there have been reports that Sunderland retain an interest in Bruma, along with Marseille and Moncao. According to the reports Galatasaray would prefer to keep the winger but while they will not consider a loan deal, they would consider selling a player they bought from Sporting Lisbon for €12m.
It's difficult to see us splashing out the money required to buy Bruma, considering the fee Galatasaray paid for the winger and the fact he's only just returned from a long term injury.
Another winger linked and quickly ruled out was Christian Atsu of Chelsea. According to Sky Sports, Sunderland had been given permission to open talks with the Ghana international but when Poyet was asked about Atsu, he simply said;
No.
Poyet did expand on our alleged interest in Lazio's Luis Pedro Cavanda but that is another deal that looks unlikely to happen;
After I heard the name yesterday morning I watched a few games of his.
The first time I have seen him properly was yesterday.
Maybe there is something I don't know or the answer is no
Sunderland are still chasing deals for last season's on-loan trio of Fabio Borini, Marcos Alonso and Santiago Vergini. The club have spoken to Borini but that deal is still dragging on with his shoulder injury picked up in pre-season not helping matters Alonso's presence on Fiorentina's pre-season tour of South America and the Italian side's asking price is stalling that deal. Vergini is the closest of the three to signing but his involvement in the World Cup with Argentina and complicated third-party ownership matters regarding his parent club Atletico Fenix has made a deal to bring the 25-year-old more complicated than it originally appeared.
According to reports in the Netherlands, Sunderland (and Swansea) have been in contact with Celtic over the potential signing of their Dutch centre half Virgil van Dijk. Celtic are believed to be willing to sell van Dijk and with the Scottish champions 4-1 down to Legia Warsaw going into the second leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie, their imminent exit before the lucrative group stages of the competition is likely force Celtic to cash in on the 23-year-old.
Max Clayton's Sunderland trial finished this week and despite Poyet originally being hopeful of signing the youngster, it's believed the club couldn't agree terms with Crewe. That let to Clayton joining Wolverhampton Wanderers on trial, all but ending Sunderland's interest in him.
Sunderland's hopes of signing Jordon Mutch also appear to be hanging by a thread after QPR had a £5m bid for the midfielder rejected by Cardiff but Harry Redknapp is expected to return with an offer of around £6m, an offer that is thought to be enough to persuade Ole Gunnar Solksjaer to part with a player who only has one year remaining on his Cardiff contract.
The final three links of the week are ones we should be able to completely ignore, as our name was thrown into the hat for South American duo Paolo Guerrero and Facundo Ferreyra. With both players looking for a move this smacks of ourselves and the usual suspects (QPR and West Ham) being used to drum up interest.
Another "striker" linked was former Sunderland player Anthony Stokes. Stokes currently plays for Celtic and according to Goal.com we are one of a number of clubs tracking the "striker". No, just no. The Glass Spider is shut now anyway. No. Easily the worst rumour of the window so far.
In outgoing news, Gus Poyet is confident Connor Wickham will sign a new deal at Sunderland but has warned the striker that he must sign a new contract or he will be sold by the club. An ultimatum that doesn't seem to have gone down too well with the player's father who tweeted;
Question ? How can someone agree to something that has not been offered ? Get your facts right !
— stefan wickham (@Stefan8271) August 1, 2014
How can people give Ultimatums over nothing offered ?
— stefan wickham (@Stefan8271) August 1, 2014
There is no doubt that the club will not want to lose a highly valued talent, particularly after he finally started producing for the first team but his father's insistence that no new contract was offered is at odds with reports that he had rejected Sunderland's initial offer. So it will be interesting to see how his situation develops throughout this transfer window.
Finally, Alfred N'Diaye is being courted by an increasing number of Spanish sides. After Real Betis and Malaga made their interest known, Celta Vigo are the latest name to be linked with the Senegal international. The president of Betis, who had the player on-loan last season, said his club would keep trying for the player but admits their relegation will count against them;
We are in the second division, which is a handicap with a player of his class.
We have hope and we will keep trying, but it cannot be said today that he is close to Betis.
That's your lot for this week but stay tuned to Roker Report throughout the summer as we keep you up to date with all the transfer news and rumours. Also, feel free to keep in touch with our dedicated Transfer Centre, which you can do by CLICKING HERE.
