Marc Guiu’s flight to the North East was postponed, but his Chelsea loan move to Sunderland remains on
Sunderland’s loan move for Chelsea striker Marc Guiu has hit a slight delay after the 19-year-old’s planned flight to the North East was postponed on Sunday.
According to Sky Sports News’ Keith Downie, the setback does not mean the deal is in jeopardy. An agreement between the two Premier League clubs remains in place, and there is still an expectation that the season-long loan will be completed.
Guiu had been due to arrive for a medical on Monday, but that schedule is now yet to be confirmed as Sunderland wait for the forward to travel. The Spaniard, a recent Club World Cup winner, joined Chelsea from Barcelona last summer in a £5million deal and has impressed in limited first-team opportunities, scoring six goals in seven Europa Conference League outings last season.
Downie’s exact tweet read: Little update on this: “Guiu’s flight was postponed today but doesn’t mean the deal is dead. Agreement still in place and an expectation that the striker will finalise his move to Sunderland on loan for the season.”
If all goes to plan, Guiu will become Régis Le Bris’ latest summer signing and add further competition to Sunderland’s forward line ahead of their Premier League opener against West Ham United on August 16 at the Stadium of Light.
Chelsea triggered a £5million release clause to sign Guiu from boyhood club Barcelona in 2024. He has since made 16 senior appearances for the London club, including seven outings in the Europa Conference League, where he found the net six times.
Régis Le Bris delivers verdict on Sunderland's pre-season form
Sunderland have not win since their first pre-season fixture against South Shields, but Le Bris insists he is pleased with the progress of his team. "I'm not too worried, we lost the last five games of the Championship season but we understood why," Le Bris said.
Le Bris added after the game to the media at the Stadium of Light: "It's not the same scenario but we are building a new squad, the quality is clear so it's just a question of adding new building blocks. We can feel the energy is different."
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Xhaka delivered an excellent performance at the base of midfield and Le Bris confirmed that he is likely to be captain for the upcoming campaign.
Le Bris said: "We need maturity, level, consistency, experience - he brings everything. You can feel that for the others around him, it makes their life easier. For the Premier League it really helps to have two, three lads like that. He will probably be captain, yes."
Le Bris also praised goalkeeper Robin Roefs, who delivered a solid performance. Le Bris said: "Robin has this quality, he has composure on the ball. He's a good goalkeeper, he looked very good this afternoon."
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