On This Day (15th May 2014): Sunderland Plotting Deal For Marcos Alonso!
Upon completing the quite unlikely which was Premier League survival, Sunderland manager Gus Poyet was already plotting his transfer plans for the following season.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 22: Ki Sung-Yueng and Marcos Alonso of Sunderland celebrate following their team's 2-1 victory in the penalty shootout during the Capital One Cup semi final, second leg match between Manchester United and Sunderland at Old Trafford on January 22, 2014 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) | Getty Images 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?