August is now very much on the horizon for Sunderland as a brand new Premier League campaign grows ever closer.
There will be concerns over the Black Cats’ last friendly contest amid all the excitement, however, as Regis Le Bris’ men were humbled 3-0 by Hearts on their last outing to Tynecastle.
Sunderland are already six signings down across the hectic transfer window.
Still, plenty more new faces will surely arrive through the door soon before West Ham United travel to the Stadium of Light to kick off the hotly anticipated Premier League season.
Sunderland make approach to sign Premier League star
Of course, Sunderland’s main target continues to be ex-Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka.
The ongoing saga involving the Switzerland international had taken a new, unexpected turn when Xhaka featured for Bayer Leverkusen during the German side’s last friendly match, despite past talk centring on the fact that the 32-year-old had reached a verbal agreement over a move to Wearside.
However, that now looks likely to be his final ever appearance for Leverkusen, with a breaking development coming to light on Monday that a fee of £15m has been agreed that will see him move back to England.
On top of that news, as per a report by Mackem News, Sunderland have also approached back-up Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega to try and strike up a deal, with the 32-year-old eager to stay put in England if he walks away from the Etihad shortly.
The £7m-rated City star is likely to depart the Etihad Stadium this summer owing to England goalkeeper James Trafford re-signing for the Citizens.
Ortega can immediately usurp Anthony Patterson on his arrival, with his top-flight know-how making him a standout signing for a Sunderland side attempting to instantly stay afloat in the top division.
Why Ortega could be a better signing than Xhaka
Winning the £90k-per-week stopper’s signature could even be a more important signing than Xhaka finally joining Le Bris’ camp, particularly if the two-time Premier League title winner goes on to play a pivotal role in securing safety for his new side.
Whilst Ortega has often been placed on the periphery at the Etihad next to Ederson stealing the limelight, the ex-Arminia Bielefeld man has shone in spurts for City when chucked into the first-team spotlight by Pep Guardiola, as seen in his vital, season-altering save against Tottenham Hotspur towards the back-end of the 23/24 campaign.
In total, the “exceptional” Ortega – as he’s been labelled previously by the City boss – has kept a promising six clean sheets in Premier League action from just 26 appearances in Manchester, with a high 67 saves also amassed in some clutch moments for the top-flight outfit.
Games played
25
Games started
5
Goals conceded
26
Pass completion %
796 (80%)
Saves made
67
Clean sheets
6
Amazingly, those six clean sheets have also come about despite Ortega only making five Premier League starts in total for City, meaning he should come into his own even more if he suddenly becomes one of Le Bris’ main starters at the Stadium of Light.
Patterson has never experienced a Premier League outing, on the contrary, so it would be a major risk to shove Sunderland’s number one shot-stopper from the EFL straight into a top-flight contest and expect him to immediately perform, which is where Ortega could come to the rescue.
Xhaka does also have lots of Premier League experience under his belt – with a mammoth 225 appearances in the tough division with Arsenal. He’s also now a Bundesliga winner after a remarkable 2023/24 campaign.
However, Sunderland have been very busy in the middle of the park this summer, upgrading their options already, with a club-record £30m already splashed on Habib Diarra, away from Noah Sadiki also joining Le Bris’ growing ranks.
Between the midfield duo, a bumper 162 appearances have been tallied up in both Ligue 1 and the Jupiler Pro League, with the Premier League not the most daunting next step subsequently.
Therefore, it might not actually be the most pressing move to finally sign Xhaka.
Rather, Sunderland will no doubt welcome Ortega even more, with the arrival of a Premier League-proven goalkeeper simply a necessity this year. It could be the difference between relegation and staying up.
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