The ‘Great Escape’ that Gus Poyet’s team managed to pull off was made possible for many reasons, but none as prominent as some of the loan signings that managed to make a huge difference to the squad, namely Fabio Borini and defender Marcos Alonso.
Borini’s transfer seemed one that was going to be quite protracted and take a long time. His end-of-season form has resulted in more people in football circles taking more notice of him, along with his parent club, Liverpool, who were managed by Brendan
Rodgers.
Noises from both camps as the season drew to a close were that Borini was going to stay at Liverpool and fight for his place, and this became more apparent as the striker played for Liverpool in an end-of-season friendly at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin for Liverpool against Shamrock Rovers.
On the other hand, the transfer of Alonso was hoped to be somewhat more straightforward. The Spaniard was on loan from Italian side Fiorentina, and it seemed apparent that he wanted to move to Wearside after thoroughly enjoying his time at the club.
Florentina seemed somewhat open to the idea of selling him, but he commanded a high transfer fee, which appeared to be outside the price range that Sunderland were willing to pay. However, the fact that defender Modibo Diakite was on loan the other way appeared to open the door for the possibility of a breakthrough for a deal with Diakite’s agent, frustrated at Sunderland placing a high price tag on him in order to aid the Alonso transfer.
“If it were down to Diakite, he would stay with the Viola (Fiorentina) with his eyes closed,” said the defender’s agent, Ulisse Savini. “He gets on very well with both the coach and his team-mates, and Florence is a city that he likes very much.
“His value? It depends on how highly Sunderland will value him. If they want to treat him as a possible starter, he will come at a cost. But if they treat him like he is surplus to requirements, he will command a much lower fee.”
As it transpired, both deals failed to occur with the Alonso one and were especially sour for Sunderland and the fans to take. Alonso himself stated that he would have been open to a return, but with finances tight at the club, it wasn’t a runner. The Spaniard stayed with his parent club for two more years before moving to Chelsea.
