With the kind of start Sunderland had to their season, it looks like the Black Cats will be having another very long and hard slog this time too. For the last few years, they had been constantly battling for their lives to save relegation and the appointment of David Moyes has not changed the scenario, at least not so far. The Black Cats are at the rock bottom of the Premier League table with just one point from six games and a key reason behind that is the lack of goals.
Out of the five goals Sunderland have scored this season, 33-year-old Jermain Defoe has managed four. The Wearside club are too reliant on the ageing legs of the English international.
Victor Anichebe is not good enough to deputise for the Englishman whereas Fabio Borini is out with injury on a long term. So, it is quite evident that David Moyes will go for a new striker in the January transfer window and Danish newspaper BT confirms it as they claim that Paraguay international forward Federico Santander has been heavily scouted by the Wearside club along with fellow Premier League club Swansea City.
Santander came up through the ranks of Guarani in his native country of Paraguay, scoring 34 goals in his two spells with the club having spent time with Toulouse, Racing Club and Tigre before earning a move from Guarani to Copenhagen last year. The 25-year-old has been a big hit for the Danish giants having already scored 23 goals and setting up 7 goals from 53 games.
The 8-time capped Paraguay international has already scored six goals in all competitions this season and his stock is quite high at the moment. With a frame of 6 ft 2 in, Santander is an out and out target man. He looks like a perfect recipe to complement Defoe’s pace. In the Champions League game against Porto, the Paraguayan won as many as 4 headers during the game which is impressive.
Santander is not just a menace in the air but also boasts a solid hold up play. His passing accuracy was 78.6% against Porto and had two shots on Casillas’ goal. Still only 25, the striker has his best days ahead of him and if Sunderland can bring him at the Stadium of Light, it will prove to be a good deal for them.
Defoe is 33 now and it is not fair to ask him to score week in week out. Sunderland badly need to offer the English international a helping hand in attack and Santander is well capable of doing that. A target man like him and an agile and clinical forward like Defoe can potentially bring Sunderland out of the danger zone.
Stats via Whoscored
