Part of the agreement in place when Dick Advocaat was tempted to stay on as manager was the club’s assurance that it would invest in the playing staff before the commencement of the 2015-16 season.
In fairness to Ellis Short, he was putting his money where his mouth was as things were heating up with much speculation surrounding many potential new players that could be making their way to Wearside.
One potential transfer that was rumoured to be close to being done was the deal for Belgian defender
Nicolas Lombaerts who was currently playing with Zenit St Petersberg. News outlets were reporting that an agreement was close to being reached for the Belgium defender and he was expected to complete a move to the Stadium of Light.
In addition to this, Advocaat was rumoured to be extremely keen on a £9 million move for Dutch winger Jeremain Lens who was playing for Dinamo Kiev. Lens had previously worked with Advocaat at PSV Eindhoven and AZ making him a perfect fit for Advocaat’s newly assembled team where he wanted to bring in players that he already knew.
With rumours swirling about a potential deal, Lens broke his silence about the move to Sunderland, stating his ambition to make the move to the Premier League, but revealing that a medical had not been completed yet.
I’m not having a medical examination, but I am in talks with Sunderland. I have never made a secret of the fact that I like the Premier League.
We have previously worked well together at AZ and PSV. We know each other – that’s ideal. It’s not all there yet, but it should be clear that I am really keen on a transfer.
According to one newspaper article, sources close to Sunderland claimed the discussions with Dinamo were ongoing, but clearly the player’s comments increased the chances of a deal being struck sooner rather than later. With a winger high on Advocaat’s wish list and a potential deal for Stewart Downing seemingly dead in the water, it made the urgency for getting a deal for Lens done all the more important.
With deals for Sebastian Coates and Adam Matthews already complete, Short was certainly doing his best to equip Advocaat as best as possible for the beginning of the season. A day later, the deal for Lens was confirmed, however the transfer of Lombaerts fell through after the player suggested that he would rather stay at Zenit.
