SUNDERLAND officials have told Jeremain Lens’ Turkish suitors that they are not interested in a swap deal for the £13m-rated winger.
Lens is set to leave Wearside this summer no matter what the outcome of the Black Cats’ ongoing relegation fight, having spent the current campaign on loan at Turkish side Fenerbahce.
The Holland international has scored four goals – one of which came in a Europa League game against Manchester United – and claimed 13 assists, with Fenerbahce currently sitting in fourth position in the Super Lig.
The Istanbul club would like to sign Lens permanently this summer, but have informed the Sunderland hierarchy they will be unable to match their £13m asking price for the 29-year-old.
They have raised the possibility of a potential swap deal, but both Sunderland boss David Moyes and chief executive Martin Bain agree it would be better to receive a cash payment to enable them to reinvest themselves once the transfer window reopens.
The same message has been delivered to officials at Besiktas, another Turkish club to have expressed an interest in signing Lens.
Besiktas are willing to offer a number of players as potential makeweights in a deal for the winger, with defensive midfielder Tolgay Arslan understood to have been proposed as an option.
However, Moyes remains adamant he does not want Lens to leave in an arrangement that would see Sunderland receive a fraction of the sum they spent to sign the midfielder from Dynamo Moscow in 2015.
Whatever happens, Lens will not be returning to Wearside next season, with Moyes already having written him out of his squad no matter what league he finds himself planning for at the end of the current campaign.
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