Sunderland’s attempts to sign Kasey McAteer on deadline day were knocked back, with Ruud Van Nistelrooy explaining why it was rejected.
In the January transfer window, Sunderland looked to bring in a winger late on.
There was concrete interest in Black Cats 18-year-old gem Tommy Watson, who was subject to several bids from Premier League side Brighton, and Kristjaan Speakman wanted to ensure that depth was reasonable on the left flank in the potential event of a departure.
Brighton’s pursuit for Watson ended unsuccessfully, but Sunderland did still look to bring in a winger on deadline day, with one of their targets being Leicester City winger Kasey McAteer.
After lodging a loan bid that came with a reported optional fee of £10million for the winger, their approach was knocked back by Leicester City, and current manager Ruud Van Nistelrooy has revealed why Sunderland were unsuccessful in their approach.
Ruud Van Nistelrooy reveals why Sunderland approach for Kasey McAteer was turned down
Sunderland had highlighted Leicester City winger McAteer as a concrete option to sign for the rest of the 2024/25 Championship season. Several reasons suggested that this would be a deal with potential, from the fact that he is currently being under-utilised in the Premier League with the Foxes, who may have seen Wearside as a place for him to guarantee game time.
However, Leicester City turned down the bid from Sunderland, with Foxes boss Van Nistelrooy detailing why it wasn’t accepted.
Per Leicester Mercury, Van Nistelrooy said: “One thing for me that was very clear was that nobody was going out until there’s anybody in. I’m sure we can all understand it. I’m looking to bring players in to strengthen the squad, not for players to leave. That was, for me, unthinkable.
“Kasey McAteer is a very important part of our squad on the wings and will have an impact in this season, so it was impossible that he goes.”
Despite being a ‘very important’ player for Leicester, 23-year-old winger McAteer has notched just 383 minutes of Premier League action this entire season.
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Kristjaan Speakman may have faced limiting factor with loan-to-buy approach
At the start of the window, Sunderland surprised many with their brilliant piece of business to bring in Enzo Le Fee on loan from Italian giants Roma, with Speakman managing to entice the club to accept by adding an obligation to buy if the Black Cats are promoted this season.
Whilst it worked wonders in getting the Frenchman through the door, it didn’t quite deliver success for the rest of the window, despite Speakman attempting it on several occasions for many players.
The truth is that clubs in January want that guaranteed fee immediately in order to replace their potentially departing players sufficiently, and whilst it worked on one occasion, finding other teams that were willing to sanction a sale in this manner was always going to be much more difficult than Speakman actually realised.