 |
TRANSFER TALK: Who do you think should be Sunderland's first choice targets in the
summer? Which positions do you feel the club need to strengthen?
• Share
your views here |
Jones seeks a return
KENWYNE JONES has told
Trinidad & Tobago that he is
desperate to play in the
upcoming friendly with
England - even if it means
wearing a soft cast.
The Sunderland striker broke
his wrist in Sunday's defeat to
Arsenal and he has been told to
rest up to ensure he will have
recovered when pre-season
training starts in July.
And if he goes ahead and
plays for his country in the
friendly with England on June
1, Keane will be an interested
observer given how he has
already had a run in with the
Trinidad & Tobago Football
Federation once this year.
Trinidad head coach
Francisco Maturana is
expected to name Jones in his
squad tomorrow, despite the
fact that Sunderland put a sixweek
timescale on his injury.
Maturana has contacted the
£6m man and has been told the
hard cast he is wearing at the
moment is due to come off on
May 29, to be replaced by a
softer one, which he would be
able to play with.
Jones hopes to train for a
couple of days before the
friendly and prove he is able to
be included against England.
"We spoke to him on
Monday," said team manager
David Muhammad.
"Of course he wants to play
the game but the situation is
one we have to monitor before
making any final decisions."
Keane has been given the goahead
to invest heavily in his
squad this summer but Jones
remains integral to his plans,
claiming last week that the
highly-sought after former
Southampton forward was not
available at any price.
The Sunderland boss held
talks with chairman Niall
Quinn and chief executive
Peter Walker on Monday over
transfer targets and policies.
He asked for a change in the
club's wage structure, while he
is also thought to have been
given the go-ahead to invest
heavily in his squad this
summer.
Sunderland scouts were in
Germany last week to watch
Bayer Leverkusen as work on
recruiting new signings gathered
pace.
Manchester United's Jonny
Evans is wanted on a permanent
deal but he could join on
a season-long loan in August.
And, according to an interview
in Sunderland fanzine A
Love Supreme, a member of
the Drumaville Consortium,
which owns the club, has
given Keane the backing to
keep on spending.
"If £50m is what he needs
that's it," said Charlie Chawke.
"He can't do it without the
money. If that is the money he
needs well then some way or
other he must get it. It is just a
matter of getting it for him
and going about it in a businesslike
manner.
"Roy has had a very difficult
year with trying to make Premier
League players out of
Championship ones. But he
has got in some good players
now, and now he will get in
more to consolidate our position
in the Premier League for
next year."
Four-times European Cup
winners Ajax have been lined
up as pre-season opposition to
help celebrate the 35th anniversary
of the 1973 FA Cup
triumph. The Dutch giants
will play at the Stadium of
Light on August 3.
* Andy Reid, Liam Miller,
Daryl Murphy and Paul Mc-
Shane have been named in the
Ireland squad for friendlies
with Serbia and Colombia this
month.
10:53am Wednesday 14th May 2008
Print 
Email this 
Comment
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
