Roker Roundup: Romanian international says not signing for Sunderland is his biggest regret

Romanian international on his great regret

Former Romanian international Dorin Goian has been speaking about the greatest regret of his career, not signing for Sunderland.

Goian was at Steaua Bucarest at the time, when Roy Keane’s Sunderland came calling and as the defender was keen to head to the Premier League, the transfer should have been straightforward.

However with a fee and personal terms already sorted, the move fell through at the very last moment due to a problem with VAT.

The 39-year-old told ProSport that it was one of the greatest regrets of his life and, despite going on to play for Palermo and Rangers, led to the player suffering a slight depression:

One of the great regrets of my life was that I did not reach the Premier League with Sunderland.

We had to go with Steaua to a camp in Austria, Giovani Becali [agent] called me at the airport telling me that the transfer is almost ready.

In camp, after two days, a match with Swindon. The coach was Marius Lăcătuș, I played the first match and I was not announced as a starter. He told me that he had talked to the boss and that I was going to Sunderland, my teammates were already congratulating me.

Something happened and the transfer fell through. A commission, a VAT on the transfer amount…It’s all over.

It was a time when I was upset that I had missed an important transfer. 800,000-900,000 pounds was the annual salary. The transfer fee was somewhere around 4 million pounds.

Photo by Eddy LEMAISTRE/Corbis via Getty Images

Double for Embleton

Sunderland under-23s won 2-0 at Aston Villa on Friday night, as Elliot Embleton continued his comeback from injury by grabbing both goals.

The England youth international scored twice in the opening 20 minutes, with both goals coming after excellent forward play by Benjamin Kimpioka.

Embleton almost completed a first half hat-trick but saw a free kick come back off the wood work.

A great win was later marred by a hamstring injury picked up by Kimpioka that could see the Swedish under-21 international sidelined until the New Year.

You can watch highlights of the win thanks to Aston Villa’s Facebook page, just press play on the video below.