JEREMAIN LENS has been told his Sunderland career is as good as over after his claims that it would be easier for him to move to Turkey on a permanent basis if Sunderland are relegated to the Championship.

Black Cats boss David Moyes could not believe what he was hearing when he was told about the comments from the Dutchman, who Moyes allowed to head to Fenerbahce on a season-long loan.

Lens had outlined he was keen to stay with the Turkish club for many years before going on to suggest his wish would be granted more smoothly if “Sunderland drop down”.

Sunderland have rejected a swap deal offer that would have seen Gregory van der Wiel and Emmanuel Emenike arrive in exhange for Lens, although they would accept a bid in the region of £8m to turn the loan into a permanent arrangement this month.

Fenerbahce, managed by Dick Advocaat, are not in a position to match the valuation and that prompted Lens to voice his frustrations on Thursday.

“I think it is disgracefully disrespectful to a club that holds his registration,” said Moyes. “You would hate anyone connected with club who would say that.

“I came in off the training ground (on Friday afternoon) and someone said, ‘Have you seen this?’ If he said that it’s a disgrace to say that about your parent club.

“A lot of team-mates here who he played with are fighting every week with a small squad to try to keep us in the Premier League.

“Maybe when he left people thought, ‘what you doing get rid of him?’ I don’t know if anybody would want him back at the club now. If the quotes are correct then I think it would be very hard for that to happen.”

Lens didn’t start a game under Moyes and was used just twice as a substitute before he was somewhat surprisingly given permission to head for Turkey in late August.

That was a little more than a year after his move from Dynamo Kiev and he left having made just 14 starts in the Premier League, scoring three times.

The 29-year-old has since become something of a success story at Fenerbahce where he has linked up again with Advocatt, the boss who took him to Wearside.

Moyes, however, was not confident he could get the best out of a high earner after spending a couple of months assessing his merits during pre-season, so allowed Lens to depart despite a shortage of experienced forwards.

The Sunderland boss explained: “We paid £13m for him and I knew his reputation as a player. I thought, ‘we’re short and we haven’t got a great deal of quality - is it right to move him on?’

“But there was just some things I saw which I wasn’t sure about. In the end, these are the decisions the managers have to make. Sometimes you are criticised. I made the decision that I thought he wanted to go and that we could get through without him.

“As it is we’ve been really short of players, because of injuries more than anything. I only had a few weeks with him as well, so I was going more on what I’d been told by other people. He didn’t play much last season either. I had to take advice off the likes of Paul Bracewell and Robbie Stockdale, and Sam (Allardyce) as well.

“I wanted to give him an opportunity but didn’t feel as if I saw enough. When the offer came from Fenerbahce he wanted to go back to working with Dick as well. There is nothing in the deal to make it a permanent. We’re not paying any of his wages either.”

Moyes was reacting to the comments made by Lens from Turkey. The Dutchman said: “I would like to stay for many years at Fenerbahce but it’s not just for me to look at.

“I hope I could get a signature that will allow me to stay here. I do not want to talk about my contract, but many things will be easier if Sunderland drop down. Let’s wait and see.”