Sunderland’s long pursuit of Geny Catamo, which appeared to be a done deal a few days ago, now looks to be running out of road.
Our lastest update saw very little hope echoing from Portugal. And now Sporting are confident the 25-year-old will stay, according to Thursday’s print edition of A Bola. Sunderland had prepared another offer, but it still fell short of what the Portuguese club wanted.
The Black Cats had already offered €30m (£26m) plus €10m (£8.7m) in bonuses. Their next attempt included more guaranteed money, although it remained below €40m (£34.7m). That’s the important figure here.
Sporting have always wanted at least €40m (£34.7m) guaranteed before even sitting down for serious talks. Sunderland haven’t got there, and it now looks like they have decided enough is enough.
Sunderland start looking elsewhere
There’s another big indication that this one could be over. Sunderland are moving on to other attacking targets, with A Bola highlighting Jack Grealish and Igor Paixão.
British reports did claim the Black Cats have made an offer to Manchester City for Grealish. They want a loan deal, with the clubs sharing his wages and the possibility of a permanent move afterwards.
Paixão is another option and Sunderland have already made progress there. A Bola says the Marseille winger has an agreement over personal terms. Sunderland now need to find a deal with the French club.
Those moves make Catamo’s situation look very different to a week ago.
Huge salary offer wasn’t enough
Sunderland certainly made a big effort to tempt the Mozambique international. They offered Catamo a four-year contract with an option for another season. More importantly, they were ready to multiply his salary by five.
The winger earns around €600,000 (£520,000) net per year at Sporting. Sunderland were offering €3m (£2.6m) net. If he completed all five years, Catamo could therefore have collected €15m (£13m).
The problem was never really convincing him. Previous reports made it clear the player liked the idea of moving to the Premier League. Instead, Sunderland couldn’t get Sporting to play ball.
Rui Borges considers Catamo a key player and the club never wanted to lose him. Unless there’s a late surprise or another club suddenly arrives, A Bola says staying at Sporting is now the expected outcome.
After weeks of pushing, Sunderland appear to have finally got the message.
