It’s only a matter of days now until Sunderland officially get their pre-season run of games underway with a trip to local side Gateshead.
Sunderland supporters far and wide will no doubt be making the short trip in anticipation of seeing a whole host of new signings pull on the strip of the Black Cats for the very first time, with Reinildo now officially confirmed as the Wearside outfit’s fourth summer signing after his Atletico Madrid contract expired. Winger, Simon Adingra, also looks set to arrive in a hotly anticipated deal from Brighton.
They will surely be eager to impress as Regis Le Bris’ men build up their fitness this summer before Premier League football makes its long-awaited return to the Stadium of Light next month.
£21m striker still on the Sunderland radar
Not everything is going Sunderland’s way across the chaotic summer transfer window to date, as hurdles now appear to be stopping them from securing more business.
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Indeed, recent reports suggest that their pursuit of Armand Lauriente is stalling due to the Black Cats not offering enough money to Sassuolo, even as the Frenchman now declares he wants a move to England.
This will surely rumble on, with Sunderland better placed, it seems, to land Lyon star Georges Mikautadze in the meantime.
Indeed, Belgian journalist Sacha Tavolieri took to X to confirm that the newly promoted side holds significant interest in the captivating Georgian, having been taken aback by the profile of the 24-year-old.
AS Roma is also named as a party interested in working out a deal with the 5-foot-9 striker, with £21m the recently touted figure that might be enough for Lyon to part ways with their star-man, owing to their ongoing financial woes.
FC Metz
64
38
13
RFC Seraing
57
36
4
Lyon
47
17
11
Ajax
9
0
0
Why Mikautadze could be Lauriente's dream CF
Based on the above table, which examines his goalscoring exploits wherever he has been across his glittering career, this could well be a statement buy as Sunderland attempts to avoid the Premier League drop.
Add Lauriente into the mix alongside the aforementioned Adingra and the Black Cats could really take the top-flight by storm with their attacking firepower, with the explosive Georgia international perhaps the dream centre-forward for the pair bounce off.
While Adingra has caught the eye in England, scoring eight goals in 60 Premier League outings to date, the other two players in question have never taken the leap to the English game. That wouldn’t stop them all coming together to entertain, however.
Last season, even from just 13 starts in league action for Paolo Fonseca’s Lyon, the enigmatic Mikautadze would manage to fire home a clinical 11 strikes for his bumpy side, with a bumper six assists also coming his way to further prove his devastating effectiveness up top in Ligue 1.
Lauriente has been here before in the French top-flight with Lorient, too, with a tally of ten goals and eight assists above his head from 68 Ligue 1 outings.
But, much like Mikautadze sparked into life even more for Lyon last season after already being well regarded as a menace up top, Lauriente really turned on the style across the 2024/25 campaign for Sassuolo, with his heroics playing a big part in Fabio Grosso’s men instantly returning to Serie A.
Games played
33
Goals scored
18
Assists
5
Scoring frequency
132 mins
Big chances missed
4
Big chances created
6
Lauriente displayed a similar potent edge that the Georgian had in abundance in Ligue 1 for Sassuolo last campaign, with a sublime 18 goals and five assists coming his way, as only four big chances were spurned across the entire season.
Therefore, putting the two of them together with Adingra in Le Bris’ new-look Sunderland attack might well be a match made in heaven, with Mikaudatze perhaps living up to his billing as a “true icon” in the words of scout Jacek Kulig.
If all goes to plan, this will be just another intimidating league the dynamite duo have managed to conquer, as Sunderland prepare to spend more and more in their mission to survive.
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