Sunderland Were Ready to Pay €20 Million for Spertsyan

English club Sunderland considered signing former Krasnodar captain Eduard Spertsyan, journalist Anar Ibrahimov reported on his Telegram channel.

According to the source, representatives of the English club contacted the player’s family and were prepared to offer a fixed fee of €20 million for his transfer. Talks over a potential deal took place in late May, with Swiss agent Christoph Graf representing the parties’ interests.

Sunderland’s majority owner, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, was reportedly seriously considering Spertsyan as a transfer target. However, the personal terms offered by the English club were significantly less lucrative than those the player later received in Saudi Arabia. According to the source, this did not concern Spertsyan.

Ultimately, direct negotiations between Sunderland and Krasnodar never took place. Ibrahimov claims that the transfer was prevented by circumstances unrelated to football.

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus is the son of former Marseille owner Robert Louis-Dreyfus and businesswoman Margarita Louis-Dreyfus. He became Sunderland’s chairman at the age of 23.

This summer, Spertsyan joined Saudi club Al-Ahli from Krasnodar for €21 million and signed a four-year contract. The Armenia international midfielder had previously also been linked with Borussia Dortmund, Lazio and other clubs from Europe’s leading leagues.

Sunderland are also home to Armenia international forward Finn Geragusian.

Finn Geragusian travels to the United States with Sunderland’s first team