SUNDERLAND manager Roy Keane was completing his ninth summer signing yesterday as Anton Ferdinand arrived for a medical.
The 23-year-old West Ham United defender travelled to Wearside after a fee, understood to be in the region of £8 million, was agreed for the England Under-21 international. Should the deal go through, Keane is hoping it will not be the last, but ad
mitted his recruitment drive is drawing to a close ahead of Monday’s deadline. “I have got one more player in mind and then that is the end of it for a few months at least,” said Keane. “And I think we will all be glad to see the back of it.
“Anton is a good age and it would be a good environment for him to come here.”
Ferdinand has rejected the offer of a new contract at Upton Park and Keane, who played with his older brother Rio at Manchester United, is confident he will significantly strengthen the club’s defensive resources.
The Irishman said: “He [Ferdinand] is a good athlete, he has played a good number of games and he is probably ready for a new challenge after coming up through the ranks at West Ham.
“He has had good experience and he will bring good competition for a place to our club and hopefully we can get him on to another level.”
If Ferdinand seals his switch to Wearside today, he is unlikely to be involved in tonight’s Carling Cup second round trip to Keane’s former club Nottingham Forest because of a hamstring problem, which could also keep him out of Sunday’s Barclays Premier League meeting with Manchester City. That means is likely to make his debut at Wigan on September 13.
His impending arrival is likely to mean departures from the Stadium of Light, with Scotland international Russell Anderson in the process of tying up a year-long loan deal with Burnley and others certain to follow him through the exit door.
Sunderland have rejected a bid for fellow defender Danny Higginbotham, who has been linked with former club Stoke and Wolves, but Keane expects movement out as well as in over the next few days.
He said: “I would expect one or two [to go]. Russell is sorting out a deal, he should be going to Burnley for a year’s loan, and I would expect movement on one or two others, possibly. But then that’s out of my hands.”
The full article contains 423 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
