The agent of Napoli goalkeeper Rafael has confirmed Sunderland tried to sign his client in the closing stages of the last transfer window. Sunderland were keen to bring in a goalkeeper following the injury to Vito Mannone, and there were several approaches.
Speaking to Calcio Napoli24, Paulo Affonso was asked about the interest in Rafael during the summer. Affonso confirmed Sunderland was one of three teams to come in for the South American, but they were too late.
The player’s agent revealed Napoli couldn’t bring in a replacement for Rafael, so he couldn’t either be loaned or sold to the Premier League side.
“Of the formal interests there were three: one here in Brazil, a great team even if not successful, then in Europe, Sunderland and Espanyol. There was not enough time with the English club, who had lost its goalkeeper to injury.
“This was 48 hours before the close of the transfer market, there was not enough time to close such a transaction, either to borrow or outright,” said the player’s agent on the interest from Sunderland.
Last month we covered reports for Italy that Sunderland tried to sign Rafael on a permanent deal after Manchester City’s Joe Hart took the decision to join Torino on loan for the season.
According to some claims, Hart had been Sunderland’s first choice to bring in during the window when it became apparent he was surplus to requirements at the Etihad, but because their bid came in so late for Rafael, Napoli had to turn it down.
