NewsWipe: SAFC Internationals - Who's Where; But Papy & PVA Omissions Are Telling

Another Striker Link

Yesterday, the Mirror - who are excelling themselves at the moment with complete rubbish - claimed Sunderland are interested in Polish striker Lukasz Teodorczyk.

The 25-year old is currently on loan at Anderlecht from Dynamo Kiev and has scored 9 goals in 12 appearances in the Belgian league.

Teodorczyk is also rumoured to be wanted by Stoke, West Ham, West Brom, Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund.

The German giants are reportedly monitoring the Polish international as a potential replacement for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who is the subject of some eye watering rumours - an £80m target for Arsenal being one of them.

The German media have also linked Teodorczyk with Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig so David Moyes will face huge competition for this one, if he has actually considered him in the first place of course.

International Fixtures - Who's Where?

Didier Ndong - Gabon

Ndong is in line for his 19th and 20th caps for Gabon. Gabon face Mali on Saturday in a crucial qualification fixture for the 2018 World Cup and then gather for a home tie against Comoros next Tuesday.

Gabon will be under close scrutiny having sacked their coach just last week, less than two months before the Africa Cup of Nations commences.

The fixture against Mali gives Ndong an opportunity to check out Moussa Marega at close quarters. The striker, currently causing waves in the Portuguese league, has been linked with a move to Sunderland in the past week or so.

Wahbi Khazri - Tunisia

Khazri is in the Tunisian squad which will play two games in five days. On Friday, he will face Libya in a rearranged fixture to be played in Algeria. The worsening situation in Libya meant this one has been switched.

Then on Tuesday, the 25-year old will play in front of a home crowd in a friendly with Mauritania.

Lamine Kone - Ivory Coast

The Sunderland defender will line up for Côte d’Ivoire in a World Cup qualifier against Morroco in Marrakech on Friday before travelling to Lens for a friendly against Les Bleus of France a week today.

Kone has travelled to Spain where the Ivory Coast team are meeting up to prepare for this round of fixtures.

John O'Shea - Republic of Ireland

The veteran defender was named in Martin O'Neil's squad, but did not make the Sunderland side which beat Bournemouth at the weekend. Ireland face Austria on Saturday and O'Shea will definitely travel to Vienna. The Irish squad assembled today and will be looking to build on a solid start to the World Cup qualifying campaign.

Paddy McNair - Northern Ireland

The Sunderland midfielder is in the squad for successive home games against Azerbaijan on Friday and a friendly with Croatia to follow next Tuesday.

Jordan Pickford - England

Fresh from his stunning display against Bournemouth on Saturday, Jordan Pickford is rewarded for this break-through form in the Premier League, with a call-up to Gareth Southgate's senior squad which faces Scotland on Friday.

Pickford replaces Fraser Forster, withdrawn with an abdominal injury.

Duncan Watmore - England Under-21s

The Sunderland forward is in line for his eighth and ninth caps for the Under-21s. The squad met up at St George's Park on Monday in preparation for Thursday's match against Italy to be played at Southampton. Watmore will then travel with the team to France to face Les Bleus four days later in Paris.

The Omissions

There have been a few raised eyebrows in the Netherlands over Patrick van Aanholt's omission from the Dutch squad.

Danny Blind's side play Belgium tomorrow night and are then in action for a World Cup qualification tie against Luxembourg on Sunday.

Patrick van Aanholt was last named in an international squad in June for a tie against Sweden. He has been overlooked this time as Sporting Lisbon's left back, Marvin Zeegelaar, earns his first ever call-up.

Zeegelaar himself has spoken of his shock at being given the nod:

I did not expect it, I've been away so long from the Netherlands and was never really in the picture for the Dutch national team. So it really comes as a big surprise.

In truth, van Aanholt has been uninspiring, at best, in a struggling Sunderland defence this season and at times he has look utterly bereft. His omission is surely something of a wake-up call for the 26-year old if he retains any hope of making the World Cup in 2018 - should the Netherlands make it.

The rare taste of victory at the weekend will have helped the left-back put his disappointment behind him; and despite openly admitting he does not manage his own social media accounts, PVA was looking pleased with his dapper-looking self:

Likewise, Papy Djilobodji continues to be overlooked for Senegal. There have been some murmerings that coach Aliou Cissé just doesn't fancy the 27-year old defender, and his early performances in a Sunderland shirt will not have helped.

That said, Djilobodji showed what he has capable of at Bournemouth on Saturday and a few more decent showings in the Premier League may see him force his way back into the thinking ahead of the African Cup of Nations.

With Sunderland's defence looking decidedly shaky so far this season, the situation with their home-nations is surely some motivation for Papy and PVA to perform in red-and-white and get themselves into the reckoning for international recalls.