Sunderland were close to making a spectacular move for a Champions League winner this summer.
Throughout the course of the summer, Sunderland’s transfer business appeared on the surface to be quite lowkey, getting very few deals done until Deadline Day.
The likes of Simon Moore, Ian Poveda and Alan Browne were all brought in as a result of their vast Championship experience, whilst the latter two also had skills to bring to the first-team that were lacking last season.
However, Sunderland brought in an incredible four signings on Deadline Day, most notably the loan signing of Chris Mepham, as well as bringing in the likes of Milan Aleksic for £3.1million from Radnicki 1923 and Ahmed Abdullahi on a permanent deal from KAA Gent, whilst Silas Abdul Samed joined on loan from Lens.
It appeared by this point that Sunderland had fully finished their transfer work, but another optimistic move was in the pipeline for a former Champions League midfielder, however no such deal was able to come to fruition.
Sunderland ‘couldn’t agree terms’ with former Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita
Sunderland’s current midfield options are already brimming with quality, especially with the breakthrough of 17-year-old Chris Rigg.
However, Regis Le Bris was keen to make an extra addition in the centre-of-the-park, leading to Sunderland making a move for former Champions League winner Naby Keita, however they ‘couldn’t agree terms’, per Ed Aarons on X.
The Guinean international has had success throughout his career whilst at Liverpool and also during a stint at RB Leipzig, however injuries have plagued his career, leaving him out of favour currently at Bundesliga side Werder Bremen.
Keita will have been targeted for his incredible experience, with the 29-year-old notching 29 Champions League appearances in his career.
Sunderland have dodged a bullet with the Naby Keita transfer
On the surface, there is no doubt that the abilities that Keita had a few years ago, tied with his experience of playing at the top level, which could play such a crucial role for Sunderland’s many young talents within the squad, would be helpful to the Black Cats.
However, bringing in such a player, who would likely demand a sizeable wage, could easily backfire for Kristjaan Speakman and his plans of bringing in young ranks and selling them on, and this would be a complete u-turn from that way of bringing in players.
It would certainly be a risk for Sunderland to use such an excessive amount on wages for one player, especially when his injury record has been so damaging in recent years.
Whilst it would have been a signing that would have got many out of their seats and raised a few eyebrows, the logistics behind such a deal wouldn’t have worked for Sunderland, and they will be better off without Keita.