On This Day (2 August 2014): Poyet hoping to ‘surprise’ fans with transfers!

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

---

After playing out a meaningless and barely watchable 0-0 pre-season friendly against Vitoria Setubal during Sunderland’s last game of their trip to Portugal, manager Gus Poyet appeared to be trying to instil some positivity into a transfer window that had become significantly protracted and lacking in exciting business.

At this stage of the summer of 2014, Poyet had brought in the likes of Patrick Van Aanholt, Will Buckley and Billy Jones for low amounts and whilst the likes of Van Aanholt enjoyed

fruitful careers at the club, they weren’t signings that were stimulating much excitement around Wearside.

After barely staying up during 2013/2014, we were hoping to bolster our squad with the return of Fabio Borini on a permanent basis one — a deal the club had spent much of the summer trying to complete.

Only days before, we’d agreed a £14 million fee with Liverpool, although negotiations with the striker himself were slow, which Poyet pointed out.

The agreement was with the club, not with the player.

The Borini saga was dragging on and rumours that the player was considering all his options, with his favoured choice being to stay at Liverpool and fight for his place. Like a desperate broken-hearted lover, Sunderland stuck around and kept trying to win him over, but it didn’t appear to be going anywhere.

Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

After the drab 0-0 draw on this day, Poyet spoke to the media and suggested that the club had possibly made a breakthrough in transfer negotiations, and felt that fans may be ‘surprised’ by their business.

There are plenty things going on and I’m looking forward to things happening in the next few days, so it’s all positive.

I think we have a great chance (of signing players), a great chance. People are going to be surprised, which is great. It’s all positive.

We’ve had a few things that before we knew it they didn’t work. But I’m hoping there’s going to be some good news over the next two or three days.

This spurred some fans into thinking that the signing of Borini was only around the corner, but the ‘exciting breakthroughs’ weren't in the form of the Italian striker.

Within a week of Poyet’s exciting declaration, the club did in fact bring in three new bodies to the club, in the shape of Jack Rodwell, Santiago Vergini and Will Buckley.

Whilst this writer doesn’t have the energy to relive the Rodwell saga, the signing of the Manchester City midfielder was seen as a bit of a coup, but Vergini and Buckley in particular made little impact at the club in their time and overall, the 2014 summer transfer window isn’t one that’s looked upon favorably.

Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images

---

More from rokerreport.sbnation.com:

• Roundup: Sunderland 'Stranded' In Southampton; Moyes Bemoans Bad Luck & Watmore Claims Unity
• As Yet Another Defeat Blends In With All The Others, Questions About Our Future Still Remain
• The Relegations: #2 - 1969-70
• BCA: The Magnificent Twenty Seven
• Fan Focus: The Ugly Inside Talk Saints v SAFC
• Is Ellis Ready To Embrace The Drop?
• PLP: Can Chelsea Or Liverpool Win The League?