Roker Roundup: Sunderland fan favourite Jan Kirchhoff finally finds himself a new club

Sartori explains fortune

Due to his presidential ambitions back in his native Uruguay, Juan Sartori has had to field questions about how he came about his vast wealth.

Speaking to Caras y Caretas, Sartori denied that he made his fortune with UAG and the Union Group that had been suggested when he bought into Sunderland.

The Sunderland shareholder said his fortune started when he left university and a friend said “I am going to trust him”, gave him $6,000 of investment:

If you want, I tell you the whole story. I started, after I finished university, an investment company in Switzerland that started with $ 6,000 of investment. And then it grew, acquiring institutional investors of higher level and that was managing investments in several different areas, because we made listed investments and obligations.

That was my first company, called Union Group, which started in Switzerland and then evolved with investments in other areas. As it was from 2010, with some investments in Uruguay, Peru, and Argentina.

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Manager slams former Sunderland target

Sunderland were chasing Switzerland under-21 forward Florian Kamberi during the summer and even went as far as lodging a six-figure offer for the then Grasshoppers player.

He turned the moved down and ended up re-signing for Hibernian after a successful loan spell at Easter Road the previous season but despite scoring nine goals this season, Hibs manager Neil Lennon is not happy with the player.

Lennon has warned the 23-year-old that he could be sold during this transfer window unless he ups his workrate:

We’re not scoring enough goals. Obviously January’s coming and we’ll need to have a look at it but some of the players need to have a good look at themselves.

The penalty sums him Kamberi at the minute, he’s sloppy. I don’t know if it’s a lack of confidence or not but he hasn’t been taking penalties like that. His all round game at the minute is just not there.

People say it’s a confidence thing but I just don’t know. He’s had plenty of opportunities to turn things around but even today I asked him to put 90 minutes of work into 45 and told him we’d win the game.

We put the ball into the box and had things around his feet as that’s what he’s good at but there is no work-rate.

He’s not working hard enough and the point isn’t hitting home.

I can always change it the way I did last season when I got rid of Stokes and Murray and brought in other players and I can do that again.

If that needs to be, this is a criticism but we’ve been sitting on this for weeks and weeks but we’re getting no response from him.

We maybe need to look at other avenues to get goals but he has goals in him.

Photo by Callum Landells/Getty Images

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Nelson suffering with injury

Andrew Nelson has had a successful loan spell with Darlington, scoring six goals and providing two assists, but the 21-year-old picked up a knee injury in the first half of the New Year’s Day defeat at York City, which prevented him from playing in the second-half.

The striker returned to Sunderland for treatment but Darlington manager Tommy Wright does not believe the the injury is serious and still hopes to extend the player’s loan spell, which expires after tomorrow’s game against Kidderminster Harriers:

He went into Sunderland on Wednesday and today for treatment. I don’t think it’s serious but it needs to settle down if he has any chance of playing on Saturday.

We will do well to keep him, just as we did well to get him in the first place, we’ve spoken to Sunderland expressed our desire to keep him, so it’s wait and see time.

My priority right now is trying to get him fit for Saturday. Whatever happens beyond that is out of my control.

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Kirchhoff finds new club

He had been linked with a move to the MLS with Minnesota United after spending time on trial with the American outfit but former Sunderland midfielder Jan Kirchhoff has signed a six-month deal with 2. Bundesliga side FC Magdeburg.

The German side are struggling at the bottom of the second division and have signed Kirchhoff and VfL Bochum left-back Timo Perchal to strength their struggling team ahead of the second half of the season.

The 28-year-old had been without a club since being released by Bolton Wanderers at the end of last season after a short spell with Phil Parkinson’s side.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images