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PVA Agrees Personal Terms With Sam Allardyce's Crystal Palace
The grand unveil is but hours away as Sunderland and Crystal Palace officials continue to thrash out the lingering final details of Patrick van Aanholt's move from the Stadium of Light to Selhurst Park; but today the switch jumped a step closer with the Dutchman agreeing personal terms with Sam Allardyce's new club (The Guardian).
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The deal is believed to be worth around £9m, possibly rising to £12m depending on which report you believe, and now ponders the question for Sunderland supporters - who will the club move for to fill the void left by the imminent exit of the attacking full back who has been at the Stadium of Light since 2014.
Van Aanholt has always been a player to split opinion on Wearside but he has been a key figure in the plans of successive managers at Sunderland.
Always one of the first names on the team sheet - by virtue of his threat going forward, not to mention being the only senior left-back in a continually thin squad - the 26-year-old has also been one of those figures who supporters have bemoaned, especially when the going has got tough, due to his defensive and positional weaknesses not to mention occasional bouts of lacking effort and application.
Also, the Dutchman has been on the fringes of a run in the Netherlands national side for some time, but has never quite made it as a regular fixture. He now likely believes that working with the manager he had hailed as roughly the most influential on his development - thanks to his form under Allardyce last season - might just get him back into his country's thinking with the World Cup looming in 2018.
There have been murmurings in recent weeks that the player had fallen out spectacularly with David Moyes and it certainly appeared that the relationship between van Aanholt and the club has reached its natural end, so this piece of business does not come as a surprise to most.
That said, Sunderland are certainly not blessed with either pace or consistent attacking options in the squad, so van Aanholt's loss will be felt keenly despite his defensive contributions often leaving little to be desired.
Van Aanholt's imminent departure will trigger a key phase in Sunderland's January transfer window and plans to stave off the threat of relegation. David Moyes now needs a viable left-back, and some attacking threat down that flank, sourced quickly.
Full-backs linked of late include Everton's Bryan Oviedo, Inter Milan's Yuto Nagatomo and even Patrice Evra, currently with Juventus.
Sunderland Loan 'Target' Told He Can Leave Club
David Moyes has been linked with a loan move for Paris Saint-Germain striker, Jese Rodriguez, in the last few days; and that pursuit - if it exists - may have received a boost today with the news that the Spanish striker has been told he can leave the French giants in this transfer window.
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PSG coach Unai Emery told his weekly press conference that the player, who tends to simply go by the moniker Jese, does not fit in his plans for the future and that he is free to find another club.
It was Sunday's edition of French newspaper Le Parisien which suggested Sunderland are one of a number of clubs vying to take the player until the end of the season. A permanent transfer to the Stadium of Light is out of the question for the former Real Madrid player who cost the Paris outfit 25-million-euros only last summer.
Rodriguez has been agitating for a move back to Spain with Las Palmas his chosen destination. But the La Liga club said the other day that they can not afford his wages under their current Financial Fair Play restrictions - a situation not dissimilar to that under which David Moyes is currently working of course.
Liverpool were mooted as the player's preferred Premier League club of choice, but Jurgen Klopp is not thought to be of a mind to pursue any interest. Middlesbrough are now one of the other clubs being linked as of tonight.