Sunderland have been linked with a move for Japanese youth international Keita Kosugi
Sunderland have joined the race to sign Japanese left-back Keita Kosugi, according to reports.
The Black Cats are expected to be busy in the summer transfer window ahead of their long-awaited return to the Premier League, and it is widely understood that they could look to reinforce their backline over the coming months.
To that end, Kosugi is the latest name to be linked with a prospective move to the Stadium of Light, but Sunderland may need to fend off a number of high-profile rivals if they are to secure his signature.
What has been said about Sunderland’s reported interest in Keita Kosugi?
According to On The Minute, Sunderland are the latest side to take an interest in Kosugi, who currently plays for Swedish outfit Djurgarden IF. The 19-year-old predominantly operates as a left-back, but is also capable of playing on the opposite flank, and has already racked up 43 senior appearances - including a series of standout performances for his side in the Europa Conference League.
Alongside Sunderland, the likes of Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Celtic, Paris Saint-Germain, and Atalanta have also been credited with an interest in the Japan U20 international. The report goes on to state that Djurgarden would demand around £8 million for the defender.
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What has been said about Sunderland’s summer transfer plans?
Outlining Sunderland’s plans for the summer transfer window during an interview last week, sporting director Kristjaan Speakman said: "We're always trying to get the balance right between being prepared for whichever league you might be in and we've tried to do that.
"Naturally as a play-off winning team you're behind where other clubs might be, but we're fast-tracking that and catching up. We're looking to improve and build a team that is capable of staying in the Premier League, I think the objective is fairly clear.
“Everyone will point to the statistics as to how difficult it is to stay in the Premier League and we're fully aware of that, we're not naive. Our strategy in getting to the Premier League and the solutions we needed, to the ones we need to stay there, will be different. That's work we're doing at the minute but ultimately, we're going to stick to our values. We need to have a team that the community and city is proud of, we've build that in the current team and we have to have that in the Premier League.
"When we came to the club we had a multi-year strategy about how we'd able to get back to the Premier League, and it's about continuing that way of thinking. We're going to make decisions that are in the best interests of the club to try and retain our position in the Premier League, while also making decisions that don't negatively impact the club in the long term. I think we've seen before at Sunderland that if you don't consider those factors, how negative that can be in the long term. I don't think it's necessarily anything different in terms of our principles, but there are clearly key decisions coming up around making sure we have a squad capable of achieving our objective of staying up."
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