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Sunderland have tonight confirmed the signing of central defender Jason Denayer, from Manchester City. The Belgium international has signed a season-long loan deal and adds further competition to the Sunderland central defence.
Despite being only 21 years old, Denayer brings a large amount of experience with him to Wearside. Even though Denayer is yet to make a first team appearance for Man City, he has still impressed during loan spells at Celtic and Galatasaray. This led to the centre half gaining Champions League experience and he's also no stranger to the international scene, earning seven caps for Belgium. Marc Wilmots certainly liked what he saw from Denayer and handed him a place in the squad for Belguim's Euro 2016 campaign.
As well as being a practical signing purely based on numbers for the squad, Denayer will bring pace as well as skill to the Sunderland defence. He's a keen dribbler, holds onto the ball well and likes to play out of defence, while attempting to create chances. A similar style of play to what we've seen from Papy Djilobodji and not too dissimilar from Lamine Kone, either.
The initial centre half pairing, after the international break, will most likely be Kone and Djilobodji but should either become injured or lose form, it'll be good to have Denayer in the wings rather than having to rely on an ageing John O'Shea. It's also worth bearing in mind that both Kone and Djilobodji are likely to be absent from Sunderland during the African Cup Of Nations, so extra cover will be required.
It's a loan that will suit both parties - Denayer will want to prove that he has the ability to cut it in the Premier League and David Moyes will be happy for him to showcase that talent on Wearside. Fans of both Celtic and Galatasaray rate him highly, especially the Turkish club who still often idolise him on social media sites. England will be a much tougher challenge than Turkey, of course, but Jason Denayer looks to have all the attributes to having a successful spell at the Stadium of Light.
