The Black Cats boss talked transfers after the 1-0 defeat to Real Betis
Lois Openda of Belgium
Lois Openda of Belgium
Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris described reports linking the Black Cats with an ambitious move for RB Leipzig striker Lois Openda as fake news following Saturday’s pre-season friendly defeat against Real Betis.
With Wilson Isidor nursing a thigh injury, Eliezer Mayenda was handing a starting place against the La Liga outfit but struggled to make an impact as he was starved of service throughout a low-key 90 minutes at the Stadium of Light.
The hours before the game were dominated by reports in Germany suggesting the Black Cats had ‘set their sights’ on a move for Openda as they looked to continue what has already been a positive summer transfer window.
Despite conceding further additions could be made over the final month of the window, Le Bris denied a big money move for Openda was in the the offing.
When asked if a move for the Belgium international was in the offing, Le Bris said: “I think it’s fake news, it’s possible on social media. There is nothing at the moment.
“We try to improve the squad with better players - but first of all, we have players and we have to trust them.
“That is the case right now and if we can add something new to improve the squad, we will see, it’s possible.”
It was Betis that came closest to opening the scoring inside an quiet opening quarter of an hour as a header from defender Gomez beat Black Cats debutant Robin Roefs before striking the near post.
Sunderland struggled to clear the loose ball and full-back Trai Hume was forced into a goal-line clearance that provoked handball appeals from Betis that were ignored by referee Craig Pawson.
There were some promising moments for Sunderland supporters with wing duo Simon Adingra and Chelmsdine Talbi both threatening throughout the half without providing an opportunity for Eliezer Mayenda or forcing a meaningful save out of visitors goalkeeper Alvaro Valles.
Unsurprisingly, the opening 45 minutes ended goalless and despite the low tempo, there were some neat passages of play revolving around the metronomic Granit Xhaka that offered plenty of promise for the home faithful as the two sides left the pitch at the break.
Le Bris retained faith with his starting eleven after the restart but that all changed just after the hour-mark as Enzo Le Fee and Niall Huggins replaced Habib Diarra and Reinildo.
However, it was a Betis substitute that made the difference and opened the scoring as a well-taken header from Ruibal robbed Roefs of a debut clean sheet with quarter of an hour of remaining.
The goal came from a cross from the left-hand side as Sunderland failed to react to a quickly-taken corner and that allowed Ruibal to expertly guide a header inside the far post.
Sunderland’s attempts to get back in the game were limited to a dangerous Harrison Jones cross that evaded the lurking Mayenda in the area as they fell to a narrow home defeat against a side preparing for life in the Europa League this season.
For Le Bris, the attention now turns towards a friendly double header as his side travel to Bundesliga club Augsburg next Saturday before hosting Rayo Vallecano at the Stadium of Light just over 24 hours later.
That meeting with the La Liga outfit will round off Sunderland’s pre-season schedule and Le Bris has insisted his side will be ready for their return to the Premier League as West Ham United travel to Wearside on Saturday week.
He said: “We have to make many improvements because we know the level will be high.
“But from the beginning of the season, if we look back, we can see we made many steps and I hope we will be able to make two or three more steps we have to do to be competitive."