Highlights
- Sunderland have reached an agreement to sign an exciting talent on transfer deadline day.
- The player could be a fantastic replacement for Lynden Gooch.
- He’s part of a golden crop of talent at one of Europe’s top clubs.
An update has emerged on Sunderland and their pursuit of defensive reinforcements before the summer transfer window officially slams shut tonight.
What’s the latest Sunderland transfer news?
According to French outlet L’Equipe, the Black Cats have reached an agreement with Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain over a deal to sign defender Timothee Pembele.
The report claims that the 20-year-old gem is set to sign a long-term contract with the English club before this evening’s deadline, although there is no mention of how much Kristjaan Speakman has agreed to pay for his services.
This comes amid the news that USA international Lynden Gooch is poised to complete a permanent move to Championship rivals Stoke City to link up with former boss Alex Neil on a two-year contract.
The possible swoop for Pembele could follow on from the signing of Chelsea centre-forward Mason Burstow, who is now reportedly on the verge of sealing a loan move to the Stadium of Light from the Premier League team on deadline day.
How good is Timothee Pembele?
At the age of 20, the PSG prospect is a player who could come in as a long-term addition to the team rather than one with the expectation of making an immediate impact on the pitch.
He could be a fantastic replacement for Gooch as the French talent is seven years younger than the Black Cats academy graduate and has more potential to develop into a starting XI quality player, whereas the American is already in his prime years and may not have as much growth to go through.
The 27-year-old played 30 Championship matches for Sunderland last season and lost 50% of his individual duels, whilst he was also dribbled past 0.7 times per game.
Pembele, meanwhile, played five Ligue 1 matches for PSG and caught the eye with his defensive work. He won an impressive 71% of his ground battles and 65% of his contests overall, whilst only being dribbled past 0.4 times per outing, as per Sofascore.
This suggests that the former Bordeaux loanee could offer more physical strength than Gooch, by being more efficient in his duels on the pitch, whilst also not allowing opposition players to find it as easy to take the ball past him.
The 6-foot ace, who was hailed as one of a number of “gold” French talents by scout Jacek Kulig, only has 24 Ligue 1 starts in his career to date but his superb statistics in limited minutes last term indicate that the potential is there for him to be a strong option for Tony Mowbray.
His versatility could also make him a dream replacement for Gooch as the France U23 international is capable of playing on the wing, at right-back, at the heart of the defence, or at left-back, whilst the soon-to-be Stoke player has played every position on the pitch aside from goalkeeper and centre-back.
Therefore, Pembele could be a fantastic signing to make up for the academy graduate’s pending exit to the Potters due to his potential, defensive strength, and versatility, which is why this appears to be a shrewd piece of deadline day business by the club.