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Adan In?
AS Sport are reporting that Sunderland are one of three clubs interested in the services of highly-rated Real Betis goalkeeper Antonio Adan.
Adan - who played against Sunderland when Betis visited the North East last summer as part of their pre-season preparation - is believed to have a clause in his contract which would allow him to leave for around £6.2m, and with the player garnering praise following his performances this season his availability has been noted by - according to AS Sport - Sunderland, Liverpool and Southampton.
Sunderland are sure to bring in a new keeper in the summer as the expiring deals of Vito Mannone and Steve Harper are unlikely to be renewed, and Adan would surely fit the bill of what it takes to be a Premier League goalkeeper. He's tall, strong, has great reflexes and, most importantly, his kicking is good.
Giaccherini Wants Permanent Bologna Stay
Emanuele Giaccherini has admitted that he'd like a permanent move away from Sunderland having spent the majority of this season on loan at Serie A side Bologna.
Giaccherini - who was signed by Roberto De Fanti in the summer of 2013 from Italian champions Juventus - never really adapted to life as a Premier League footballer and with a year still left to run on his deal here there have been questions raised over whether or not he'll remain a Sunderland player beyond the summer.
The Italian international midfielder is thirty-one in May and it's entirely likely that Sunderland will take a cut-price offer for him in order to shift him off the books permanently, and Emanuele has said that he'd like to stay in Bologna beyond the end of the current season.
He said:
I’ve already made my decision, I want to stay with Bologna. My agent and the club are already working in this direction.
Since joining Bologna on deadline day in the summer Giaccherini has scored six goals in fifteen starts and it's clear that it's best for both our club and the player that a resolution is found and that he's allowed to leave the club on a permanent basis, so fingers crossed it happens.
Coates In Europa League Action
Loanee Sebastian Coates insists his new club Sporting Lisbon can win the Europa League this season, starting tonight against Bayer Leverkusen.
The Uruguay international defender only joined Lisbon at the end of January on loan but appears to be settling well into life in Portugal and, having found himself away from the pressures of a Premier League relegation scrap, he now has a Europa League last 32 knockout game against German outfit Leverkusen to look forward to this evening.
Coates said:
We are prepared for the match. It is going to be really hard but we will try and win so that we can go to Germany (for the away leg) a bit calmer.
Bayer are a really strong team, basically across their whole team, but I think that we are in good form and we can take advantage of that.
Of course I think we can win it, but we will see (on Thursday) and in Germany. We have a good team and we will do everything we can to get into the next round. We have a tough opponent in front of us, but we will put the work in.
Since arriving, everyone has treated me really good - my teammates, the coach (Jorge Jesus) and the president (Bruno de Carvalho).
I am really happy. There are some good defenders here, like Naldo, Ewerton, Tobias (Figueiredo) and Ruben Semedo, and I am here to learn and to add my experience to the group.
If you fancy watching Coates in action this evening, the Sporting v Leverkusen game is live on BT Sport Extra 3 at 8:05pm.
Eric Roy Has Premier League Ambitions
Remember Eric Roy?
The solid central midfielder, signed by Peter Reid on a free transfer from Marseille in 1999, only spent a season at Wearside but still holds a place in the hearts of Sunderland fans such were the level of his performances as a player here.
Since retiring from the professional game Roy has spent the majority of his time coaching in France, most notably managing Ligue Un side Nice, and in an interview with French football website Offside! he remarked that he'd like to one day coach his former club.
He said:
I have some contacts up there yet that's true, but in any case it can be a goal, if after a few years in France, I have to train in England.
It is a great club and a club that marked me. I always look at Sunderland. And now that I am a qualified coach, it would be a dream to one day coach of that team there. Because I think there is everything to do. There is an incredible stadium, incredible fans, now more modern training center.
The full interview with Roy can be read here - it's well worth five minutes of your time (make sure you hit translate - unless you're fluent in French, like) as Eric talks about his time at Sunderland in particular.
