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On This Day (24 July 2016): Lens happy with David Moyes’ Sunderland appointment!

WHAT'S THE STORY?

Sunderland v Middlesbrough - Premier League
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

It seems bizarre to write about Jeremain Lens’ feelings and hopes for the 2016/2017 Premier League season, given that the Dutchman was shipped out on loan to Fenerbahçe in August 2016 despite being involved in some of our early games of the season under David Moyes.

After being used frequently during pre-season, it seemed that Lens was ready to kick on at Sunderland after a chequered first season at the club. The Dutch international had undeniable quality, but concerns surrounding his fitness and attitude

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after Dick Advocaat departed left fans questioning whether he was the right fit for Sunderland.

In January 2016, Lens stated that he “Didn’t come to the Premier League to sit on the bench”, and indeed, he ended up contributing to our survival under Big Sam during the second half of the season.

Arsenal v Sunderland - Premier League Photo by Kieran Galvin/NurPhoto via Getty Images

On this day of the same year, the winger struck a different tone — one of someone who was committed to the case and saw their future at the club — when he spoke about aspirations for the coming season, coupled with a discussion about the appointment of Moyes.

We saw him (Moyes) for a couple of minutes when he came in to say hello (at Rotherham), and it’s good to have a new manager.

We heard Sam was leaving (on Friday) and everyone was disappointed about that. But we’re happy to have a new manager with us and hopefully we can all move on together.

It’s really good that he’s been able to come in so quickly because it’s not too long until the start of the season, so we couldn’t afford to be waiting for a couple of weeks.

Hopefully he can carry on the good work that the previous manager did.

After playing 86 minutes against Rotherham, Lens looked focused and ready to fight for his spot in the team. However, the cynic in me now thinks that the wise Dutchman was ensuring he was fit so a move could be arranged for him.

That train of thought is in contrast to further comments he made on this day surrounding the importance of pre-season and getting the team ready for their first game of the season against Manchester City.

It’s going to be an important week now.

It’s good for the new manager to be able to see the players, and it’s also a good chance for the players to show the new manager what’s possible to do this year.

It’s going to be a good week. The whole pre-season has been good so far, but with everything that’s happened, it’s even more important that we work as hard as we can in France.

After that, we’ll see how things will go.

As we now know, the winger didn’t last long on Wearside and moved to Turkey, where he had spells with Fenerbahçe and Besiktas before retiring last year aged thirty six.

Livingston v Sunderland - Pre Season Friendly Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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