Sunderland manager Dick Advocaat has informed Ellis Short that he wants Tottenham midfielder Mousa Dembele as his attacking maestro. However, according to Darren Lewis of the Daily Mirror, Spurs have set a hefty £15-million price tag which the Black Cats may struggle to meet.
Advocaat is a fan of Dembele from their time together with the Belgian national team and has been watching his situation at Tottenham all summer. Dembele,28, had became isolated at Tottenham last season, with just ten premier league starts to his name. However, he did start their opening game at Manchester United last week, which makes the transfer that little more difficult.
Dembele fits into the attacking midfield mould perfectly, with Sunderland looking for a skillful and creative spark to play in front of Lee Cattermole and Yann M’Vila. It remains to be seen whether Sunderland have the finances available to meet such a large asking price, but this transfer will please Advocaat and fans alike, with both craving large investment from Mr Short this summer.
Elsewhere, Sunderland are looking to bolster their flanks with loan moves for Fabio Borini and Adnan Januzaj reportedly imminent.
