Defender Sebastian Coates has left Sunderland on a six-month loan to Portuguese side Sporting CP, with a potential to buy the Uruguayan at the end of the deal.
The transfer was confirmed by the club’s website earlier this morning after multiple rumours of his departure following the signing of Ivorian centre-back Lamine Kone yesterday.
The former Liverpool man made a loan switch to the Stadium of Light in the 2014 Summer transfer window, before signing permanently the following season for a fee of around £2 million. Since his arrival in September 2014, the number 22 has appeared 32 times in a red and white shirt, and 18 times this season alone.
This must obviously mean Big Sam is confident of his new signing, as Coates was an important player throughout the first half of the season for the Mackems, especially with the potential of the deal going further than just a loan deal, as rumours suggest that they could acquire the Black Cat for £3.8 million come the end of the season, almost doubling what they paid Liverpool for him.
Whether you believe that is good business or not is a matter of opinion, however, people seem quite disappointed to see one of our younger defenders leave at this stage of the season, especially someone as crucial as Coates has been for the majority of the games this far into the footballing calendar.
Yet we can only give the new boys time, and hopefully, Allardyce’s decision making can save the Wearsiders from what may seem to be the imminent drop.
