Sartori still keen on Uruguayan feeder club
Sunderland director Juan Sartori is hoping more clubs take Manchester City’s lead and start investing into Uruguayan football.
Sartori had a meeting with the president of the Uruguayan FA (AUF), Igancio Alonso, and revealed on the Radio 1010 programme ‘Vamos Que Vamos’ [via Ovacion] that he and Alonso agree that conditions in the country need to improve to encourage more investors to follow City Group’s purchase of Torque.
The Uruguayan senator explained that he knows of a number of groups who may be interested in possible investment opportunities but that they need certain guarantees from the AUF.
I know a large number of groups that want to participate in Uruguay, but it is important to determine what conditions of guarantees the AUF can generate.
Sartori then followed up on his long-standing interest in Sunderland having a feeder club in Uruguay, saying he has explored various clubs but was unable to complete a deal due to time constraints but is certain that it will happen eventually:
I would love for Sunderland to have an affiliated club in Uruguay, I studied a number of Uruguayan clubs to be able to do it, but due to lack of time I could not complete that project.
I will surely end up doing it.
Gyan on leaving Sunderland
Former Sunderland striker has given an interview to Ghanaian station GTV Sports Plus [via GhanaWeb] about how his departure from the club came about.
Gyan made a surprise move to Al Ain in what was a world record fee for a loan deal, with the United Arab Emirates outfit paying Sunderland £6m to take the Ghanian international on loan for a year.
The 34-year-old explained how he was the top man at the club at the time and said he was concerned about the reaction from the fans. The striker was reassured by Sunderland that they could deal with the fans and encouraged him to accept the offer from Al Ain:
When a player is performing definitely Clubs will come chasing and the deal from UAE looked very good.
I was going for one season for 6million pounds and they [Sunderland] were interested because it was good money, they were even pushing for the move because the money involved was good for a loan deal.
Personally I was concerned about the fans, about how they will feel and whether they will be happy if I move because I was the top man there, Darren Bent had left so I was their lead man and they liked me.
But they (Sunderland) told they knew how to deal with the fans and that I should accept the move to UAE.
I went there and the atmosphere was great and I felt in love with the team and the fans. They treated me well so I decided to stay after my loan deal.