After a successful return to the top flight, Sunderland were preparing themselves for some serious transfer interest during the summer of 2000. Peter Reid’s side had just finished an impressive seventh in the table and had been receiving admiring glances throughout the Stadium of Light’s first season of Premiership action. It felt inevitable that rivals would now be looking to prise away some of the squad’s most eye-catching stars.
On this day, the Sunderland Echo’s Graeme Anderson brought the news
that Darren Williams was one of the players attracting the most interest, with Leeds United, Leicester City and Ipswich Town all said to be keen. The utility man, who had featured 25 times in the league and made a further three Worthington (League) Cup appearances – including a goal against Walsall – was one of Reid’s best discoveries in the transfer market and had become a key figure since his arrival from York City in 1996. It was no surprise that there were some impressive suitors lining up for him.
Having finished third, Leeds were looking to strengthen ahead of their Champions League campaign, while League Cup winners Leicester had also qualified for Europe. Their manager, Peter Taylor, had worked with Williams when he took charge of an England B fixture in 1998. Meanwhile, newly promoted Ipswich Town were aiming high under former Sunderland full-back George Burley and were looking for some young legs to complement Tony Mowbray. The three clubs were all understood to be preparing bids should Reid decide to sell, with Jody Craddock also thought to be on Burley’s shopping list should he become available.
Paul Butler was another defender in demand, according to Anderson, with Manchester City – the club Butler supported as a boy – being linked with a move. Niall Quinn, still mulling over a new contract, was another whose situation was supposedly being monitored elsewhere, while there had also been whispers of interest from the continent in Thomas Sørensen, with other reports claiming that Real Sociedad were keeping tabs on the Danish goalkeeper.
In the end, however, Reid was happy to keep hold of his key players. Butler would leave early the following year, but the rest of the names mentioned in the article featured regularly during the 2000/01 campaign – most notably Craddock, who established himself as a first-team regular after previously spending time on the fringes.
It was on the incoming side that the club did most of their business instead, and there was also an update on potential arrivals for Echo readers.
Alongside the ‘Daz in Big Demand’ piece was a large photograph of Mechelen midfielder Tom Peeters, whom Reid was hoping to sign in a £250,000 deal. The Sunderland boss confirmed that talks had already taken place and it appeared an agreement was close.
However, another proposed transfer discussed 26 years ago ultimately failed to materialise – Sunderland’s £3 million move for Rangers’ Italian centre-back Lorenzo Amoruso eventually came to nothing.
