Sunderland transfer news: Black Cats ‘leading the race’ for international duo after Kristjaan Speakman trip
Sunderland are leading the race to sign striker Vladyslav Vanat, according to fresh reports.
Vanat was the top scorer in the Ukrainian Premier League last season, a league that Sunderland have scouted closely in recent years. The 23-year-old, who has been capped on multiple occasions for his national side, scored 17 goals for Dynamo Kyiv in the most recent campaign. It was a third successive season in which he has posted strong numbers, scoring 14 and 12 (from 25 appearances) in the previous two campaigns.
That form has alerted clubs across Europe, with Leeds United and Everton both said to be interested. However, a report from Express Sport says that Sunderland are the only club to have made formal contact with the Ukrainian champions. Vanat is said to be be keen on the move, but Dynamo Kyiv are said to be holding firm on their valuation of around £20 million. The club do not want to lose their key striker before their Champions League qualifying campaign.
Vanat has been taking part in Ukraine’s U21 European Championship campaign and scored against Finland, but his team were ultimately unable to progress to the latter stages.
Sunderland continue to monitor Lyon defender
Sunderland are also said to be stepping up their pursuit of Lyon central defender Duje Ćaleta-Car.
According to reports in Ćaleta-Car’s native Croatia, Sunderland hold the strongest interest in signing the 28-year-old international this summer who has been transfer listed by Olympique Lyonnais. He has Premier League experience, though his solitary campaign at Southampton ended in relegation. It was at that point the central defender moved to Olympique Lyonnais, initially on a season-long loan. The French club then triggered their buy option to sign the defender permanently, but he has fallen out of favour under new boss Paolo Fonseca and is available for transfer this summer as the club look to raise funds in the market this summer. The defender cost Lyon a fee in the region of €5 million including all potential bonuses, and has two years left to run on his current deal. As such, he could prove a cost-effective option for the Black Cats as they look to add depth and top-tier experience to their squad.
The 28-year-old has significant top-level experience across his career, having been a regular for both Red Bull Salzburg and Marseille before making the switch to Southampton.
What Kristjaan Speakman said about Sunderland’s transfer work earlier this week
Speaking at the Foundation of Light’s annual fixture breakfast earlier this week, Sunderland’s sporting director Kristjaan Speakman confirmed that he had been abroad in the days previous to meet with potential transfer recruits.
“From a club’s perspective, we’re not naive to what the Premier League is,” Speakman said.
“We understand that our strategy to get here is going to be a different to what is required to stay here. Our objective has never just been to get to the Premier League, it’s such a landmark and naturally everyone talks about that but internally over the last two, three, four years it’s always been about re-establishing ourselves. So we need to do now is go on the next part of that journey, and think about establishing ourselves over the next three or four years [at Premier League level] and hopefully build to a point where he can be involved towards the top end of the league which is ultimately where we all want to be. We’re trying to recruit players for that. I’ve spent the last three days in three different countries, speaking with players and agents. I landed back here at about 2am last night, so the work behind the scenes is up and running and has been for a number of weeks.”
