Roker Roundup: Another Dajaku clause… and Sunderland U23s are heading to Canada

Another Dajaku clause

Leon Dajaku completed a move to Sunderland this week, following our promotion to the Championship, as a clause in his loan deal kicked in which meant he moved to Wearside on a permanent basis.

That was not the only clause that kicked in regarding Dajaku this week, according to Kicker.

The German youth international joined Union Berlin on a permanent deal shortly before finalising his temporary move to Sunderland and as part of that deal, Union had to fork out €1.5m following the team avoiding relegation from the Bundesliga this season.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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Canadian friendly for under-23s

Sunderland under-23s will head to Saskatchewan, Canada in August to play a friendly against Toronto FC.

The game will take place on August 3rd at the Mosaic Stadium, Regina and speaking to CTV News about arranging the game, the president and CEO of Real Exhibition Association Limited, Tim Reid, said the game was very important as they look to expand football in Canada:

Soccer is a global sport that transcends borders and unites so much of our world. The opportunity to see this happen again in our community may just be what we all need at this time.

This creates a lot of exposure for the sport. It is amazing the work as a community that we are doing to bring this beautiful sport to Saskatchewan. It’s events like these that make a huge difference.

Tickets for the game will be on sale via Ticketmaster, with prices ranging from $18 to $65.

Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images

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SAFC are playing their part

The project centres on a children’s book called “Who is your neighbour?” and is led by local creative consultant, Di Gates. Di had the idea whilst watching news footage of Ukrainian refugees being met on the border and taken home by Polish families.

“I watched the news on Saturday morning, and by Sunday evening I’d sketched out the content of the book and had seven brilliant local illustrators on board to help. We worked together in the evenings and on weekends, and within 2 weeks we had a finished draft. One week later it was printed, and one week later it was launched!”

The book, aimed at preschoolers and early readers, was launched at Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children’s Books, in April and over 1200 books have already been sold - with copies being sent as far afield as USA, Australia and New Zealand.

Two copies of the book have now been signed by SAFC players and are being raffled off to raise more money for The Voices of Children Foundation - to support evacuation efforts and provide emergency psychological support to children affected by the war.

To stand a chance of winning one of two signed copies of “Who is your neighbour?” Simply text NEIGHBOUR to 70215 before Monday 30th May. Texts cost one standard network rate message.

The book itself can also be bought online at www.whoisyourneighbour.com to be enjoyed simply as a picture book for pre-schoolers, or as a way to guide gentle conversations with older children about how millions of people across the world have responded to the war with amazing acts of humanity and generosity. Ultimately, the book encourages parents and children to re-think who their neighbours are and to broaden the concept to include people they don’t yet know.

More information can be found at https://www.facebook.com/Whoisyourneighbourbook and to get involved or support, email di@sticktheory.co.uk.

Photo by Steven Paston/PA Images via Getty Images