Sunderland manager Dick Advocaat has revealed the reason behind the sale of striker Connor Wickham, via Shields Gazette.
Wickham completes Palace switch
The forward’s deal to fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace was confirmed today, with the London club reportedly paying a fee in the region of £9 million, though they themselves did not disclose the official price of the deal.
Palace manager and former Newcastle United coach Alan Pardew revealed after Palace’s friendly with Championship side Fulham that personal terms were yet to be agreed with the striker, but they have since decided on a five-year contract that will keep Wickham at Selhurst Park until 2020.
At least one striker was expected to be sold by Advocaat
It was fully expected that at least one of Sunderland’s four strikers would be shipped out of the Stadium of Light this summer with Steven Fletcher and Danny Graham the ones fully expected to move one, both entering the final year of their contracts on Wearside.
However, it was Wickham who was sold instead, despite signing a new four-year deal just a few months ago with the Black Cats.
When asked about the decision to sell the 22-year-old, Advocaat gave the simple reason that there are “too many strikers” in his squad, though he even admitted that he really “wouldn’t” have wanted to sell him at his young age, but the amount offered by Palace is why the “decision was made”.
Sale paves way for more additions
Sunderland have been looking to free up their wage bill to allow more singings to come in, with Advocaat reportedly looking to bring in an attacking midfielder and a striker.
It does seem the £9 million fee will go to instant use with the midfield duo of Yann M’Vila and Leroy Fer both expected to complete their moves from Rubin Kazan and Queens Park Rangers respectively in the next few days.
If the deals are to go through, they will become Advocaat’s fifth and sixth signings of the summer after Sebastian Coates, Adam Matthews, Jeremain Lens and Younes Kaboul.
The new signings seem to be making an instant impact too, with former Dynamo Kiev man Lens scoring the only goal in the Black Cats' 1-0 victory over Bundesliga side Hannover 96 on Saturday.