Nazariy Rusyn has admitted that he communicated with Shakhtar Donetsk prior to his move to Sunderland.
Speaking to Football 24, the forward confirmed that he had spoken to manager Patrick van Leeuwen but claimed that their interest in his signature was ‘probably rumours’.
After netting 13 goals and providing five assists for Zorya Luhansk last season, Rusyn was heavily linked with a move to Sunderland for much of the summer.
The transfer saga appeared to drag on for months as the Black Cats tried to come to an agreement with his club, before he was forced to wait for his visa when he finally put pen to paper on the switch.
Rusyn arrived on Wearside three weeks ago and has made three appearances for Sunderland since, while also claiming an assist for the U-21 side.
However, TaToTake, as per dynamo.kiev.ua, reported back in July that Shakhtar were tracking Rusyn and that Van Leeuwen was eager to bring the 24-year-old to the Ukrainian champions.
While the attacker would have had the chance to play Champions League football, Rusyn has now played down the reported interest but admitted he still speaks to the Shakhtar boss.
“There were no specifics from Shakhtar,” Rusyn explained. “No one contacted me. And there was no such thing that Patrick called me and said: “Let’s go to Shakhtar”.
“I communicate with Patrick, and I communicate very well. But he has never said to me “I’d like to take you” or “Come to Shakhtar”.
“On the contrary, the coach is very happy for me. He asks how I am doing:“Everything will be fine, don’t worry”. So it’s all probably at the level of rumours.”
Where will Rusyn fit in?
Nazariy Rusyn has so far been limited to cameo appearances for Sunderland, but fans definitely have high expectations of him following his arrival.
The former Ukraine U21 international has tough competition on his hands for his place in the starting line-up, but it will be interesting to see if Tony Mowbray opts to play him up front at all.
Fans knew very little about Rusyn when he was first linked and it was originally thought that he was going to be brought in as a striker until it was letter revealed that he would feature out wide.
However, his goal tally certainly makes for easy reading and the lack of goals from Mason Burstow and Luis Hemir Semedo could eventually lead to Mowbray considering a change of position for Rusyn.