A report La Derniere Heure (via Roker Report) has revealed that Sunderland were rivalling Atalanta and Club Brugge for the signing of Daniel Perez, who eventually signed for the Belgian side.
Perez, 19, had only just began his second season with South American outfit Metropolitanos. He’d netted six league goals in 11 and became highly sought after in Europe.
He was attracting interest from Italy with Serie A side Atalanta in the running, Club Brugge representing Belgium and then Sunderland showing the interest from England.
The striker initially joined Brugge’s ‘B’ team but was soon hauled into the first-team where he’s now featured six times in the league, scoring once.
It was his father that revealed to La Derniere Heure that Brugge had to fend off both Atalanta and Sunderland to land the Venezuelan forward.
Having seen him progress into Brugge’s first-team and look a real prospect, Lee Johnson and Sunderland might be slightly gutted that they didn’t win the race for this one.
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After back-to-back defeats in League One, Johnson now finds his side five points behind 2nd-place Peterborough United, after putting together a strong promotion push since the arrival of ex-Bristol City boss Johnson.
Promotion of not in the summer though, Sunderland will be active in the transfer market with their new owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus now at the helm, and ready to spend on his new side.
Johnson and his recruitment team managed to uncover Perez but were too slow to act – if they can find some more gems hidden across the globe, then it could make for an even more exciting season next time round.