It looks as though Sunderland may have had their first knock back of the January transfer window. But knowing Kristjaan Speakman, he’ll have more than just a few irons in the fire right now.
Sunderland are rapidly becoming a case study on how to tackle the transfer market, and that’s mostly thanks to the work of sporting director Kristjaan Speakman.
Having surpassed the four-year mark at the Stadium of Light, Speakman has built a Sunderland team worth in excess of £100million with names like Jobe Bellingham valued at £20million, Chris Rigg too, and several others ready to command hefty transfer fees.
Speakman has done so by scoring European and global markets for young prospects, then giving them to the manager to help develop into valuable first-team assets.
So far in this January transfer window, a growing list of players have been linked with moves to Wearside, with some really exciting names mentioned too. Perhaps the most exciting one is Enzo Le Fee.
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Enzo Le Fee rejects initial Sunderland approach
Roma signed Le Fee from Rennes for a reported fee of £19million during the summer. But after half-a-season in Serie A, the 24-year-old Frenchman is tipped to leave Italy, with links to Spain and England.
Sunderland are interested in Le Fee who Regis Le Bris worked with at Lorient previously. Meanwhile, Le Fee has pulled out of a move to Real Betis because the Spanish club were taking too long to formalise the deal, which would’ve included a £16.6million option to buy.
An emerging report from La Repubblica now says that Le Fee is unconvinced by Sunderland or Betis’ proposals and that he would prefer a return to France, with Lille now emerging as a possible suitor.
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Kristjaan Speakman ready to step up Enzo Le Fee pursuit at Sunderland
Despite this opening blow, Sunderland and Speakman are now ready to up the ante in the race to sign Le Fee during this January transfer window.
Calcio Mercato reporter Eleonora Trotta says that Sunderland have ‘increased the pressure on’ Le Fee in a bid to try and bring the central midfielder to Wearside before deadline day, no doubt in a possible loan deal.
But with Le Fee’s preference being a move to France, Sunderland might be wasting their time and resources in pursuing a move for the Roma star. If Speakman somehow pulled it off though, it would be a huge signing for the Black Cats.