New club for Arby
It looks like Arbinet Xhemajli has found a new club after being released by Sunderland at the end of last season.
The Kosovan international is expected to sign for Turkish side Goztepe SK on a free transfer once his Sunderland contract expires in the coming days.
Ulusal say both Xhemajli and Nigerian striker Kenneth Obinna Mamah are expected to sign for Goztepe as they look to bounce back to the Super Lig at the first attempt following their relegation last season.
Derby defender linked
Sunderland have been linked with a move for Derby County defender Craig Forsyth, according to reports.
Although he has returned to training with the struggling club, Forsyth will be a free agent come July 1 after failing to agree a new contract at Pride Park.
Now Cypriot outlet Goal.com.cy say APOEL are interested in the left back and are evaluating whether or not to offer the experienced Scottish international a contract.
The report goes on to say that Sunderland are also interested in Forsyth and have ‘even knocked on the door of his manager’,
Potential ‘keeper interest?
Although Anthony Patterson has signed a new long-term contract with the club, Sunderland are still in need of at least one new goalkeeper this summer following the departures of Lee Burge and Ron-Thorben Hoffmann.
Although the likes of John Ruddy and Daniel Iverson have been linked, a foreign goalkeeper raised eyebrows yesterday due to who he has followed on social media.
Schalke’s first choice goalkeeper from last season, as they won promotion to the Bundesliga, Martin Fraisl started following the club, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and the Sunderland Echo on Instagram.
Fraisl is confirmed to be leaving the German club once his contract expires in the next couple of days.
Ex-Schalke goalkeeper Martin Fraisl just started following KLD and the club on Instagram… silly season eh! pic.twitter.com/qvNl5YElsQ
— Roker Report (@RokerReport) June 29, 2022
Praise for Wright
It’s been a good month for Bailey Wright, being promoted with Sunderland after winning the League One Play-Off final, playing a vital part in Australia qualifying for the World Cup following their Play-Off wins over UAE and Peru and now signing a new two-year contract yesterday.
Following Australia’s win, the technical director at Bailey’s first club, Langwarrin, Gus Macleod has been speaking glowingly about the Sunderland player to Bayside News.
Mcleod gave Wright his senior debut back in 2009 and says the 29-year-old’s work ethic and character were always faultless:
He’s come a long, long way from the wee five-year-old who started playing for Langy’s juniors all those years ago.
You could see at training that he was a man in a young person’s body and his level of commitment was obvious.
For any young kid on the peninsula with ambition this shows you what is possible.
Bailey’s character and work ethic were faultless during his time here and he was just a dream to coach.
He’s a great example to any youngster that if you are prepared to put in the hard yards you can achieve a lot in this game.
Australia manager Graham Arnold talked to Code Sports about why he decided to recall Wright, despite the defender not playing international football since 2019:
We lacked leadership on the field in bad moments.
If we conceded a penalty we fell apart. Someone made a mistake and we fell apart. That’s not leadership. When I watched Bailey at Wembley, he was leading. Coaching on the field.
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