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Sunderland kick off their Championship campaign against Coventry City on Friday night
Eliezer Mayenda has revealed that hd will have support from Barcelona in their upcoming play-off campaign.
Mayenda won a call up to the Spain U21s squad earlier this season as a result of his exemplary form for the Black Cats, meaning he spent the March international break training and playing alongside some of La Liga's best youngsters. The 20-year-old has struck up a good friendship with Barcelona midfielder Fermin Lopez, who has featured regularly for the Catalan giants over the past two seasons.
“For me and my family, it was incredible, a good step in my career," Mayenda explained in an interview with The Athletic.
"I was training for one week with really good players from Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Valencia, a good experience.
“Fermin plays in Barcelona, he plays in the Champions League. That’s why I say it’s a good experience for me because I can learn from these players and especially from Fermin. I have a good relationship with him. Sometimes he sends me messages after watching Sunderland. It’s about opportunities. Xavi gave Fermin opportunities and he got stronger and stronger. Same for me here.”
Régis Le Bris discusses first leg Sunderland striker dilemma
Régis Le Bris has a big decision to make as to who starts up front against Coventry City on Friday night, and discussed his dilemma in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
"We'll see who starts," Le Bris said.
"First of all, we have two good strikers and this is good news. Two young strikers, one very young and one still young. They are two different strikers and it depends on the balance of the team - we always need threats in behind. Sometimes if we play with Pat and Enzo out wide we need a striker whose style is to run in behind to manage and stretch the lines. I think Wilson's style fits these circumstances, Eli can do this but he's a little different, he likes ball into feet and he can dribble. He's not exactly the same profile. It's a question of balance but also of form. Both can run but at one time might be a little tired. Or one opponent might be strong against one style, like for example I think QPR were a very good style against Enzo.
“So it's balance and a feeling from the training sessions, but we need someone to stretch the lines. “
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