Sunderland’s season is going from bad to worse and with the latest news that Papy Djilobodji will be banned for 4 games means that David Moyes will have 13 first team players missing from action. It is indeed crisis times over at the Stadium of Light and is difficult to envisage a comeback for David Moyes and his boys.
After two disastrous spells at Manchester United and Real Sociedad, the Scot would have been looking for a far more settled project with limited expectations and the idea of managing Sunderland to midtable safety would have been appealing to him after two assignments of varying diversities.
But everything has gone haywire on his return to management in England. He was afforded little time to make any signings of his choice and as games went by it was crystal clear that luck was the last thing he was to expect while managing Sunderland. A plethora of injuries to his main stars and important members of the team resulted in a severely depleted squad since the first day and as the days went by the severity of the crisis deepened. And standing on the threshold of Matchday 23, he finds himself without 12 first team members which will be increased to 13 in the coming days.
If Sunderland have any chance of avoiding relegation this season, almost all the credit for that will go to Jermain Defoe. The former Tottenham Hotspur striker has been at his best and has been frighteningly outstanding amongst a pile of hopelessness. His 12 goals in the league have ensured that they are not terribly far off from safety.
But it is not dependent upon tactics or execution as much as it is on Moyes sending out 11 men to put up some sort of a show. A show of resistance. A show of defiance.
But there will certainly be some signings despite the club’s financial disarray. It is expected that Patrick Van Aanholt is on his way out and with the money recouped Moyes is looking to spend it on Benfica midfielder Andreas Samaris.
Samaris is a Greece international and was supposedly close to a move to Middlesbrough before a move fell through.
After stints at Panachaiki and Panionios, he joined Olympiakos. After winning Superleague Greece with Olympiakos in 2014, he signed for Benfica in Portugal for €10 million. With them, he won a double of the Primeira Liga and Taça da Liga in both of his first seasons. A full international since 2013, Samaris represented Greece at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The player is a well-established midfielder with a diverse passing range. He is a good tackler and is aware of his surroundings when on the ball. His dead ball ability will be an asset for the Black Cats and his penchant of providing key passes will come in handy with Defoe more than ready to finish the moves off.
The signing will be a real coup for them and Moyes will hope the player helps them make a turnaround.
