Sunderland likely used to hype value – Player pictured on jet as he flies for transfer

Throughout December, Sunderland were mentioned as candidates to sign Lazio’s Matteo Guendouzi.

On December 11th, Corriere dello Sport were confident that the Black Cats would make a January offer for the midfielder. Lazio’s dire financial situation was seen as a convenient way of making it clear that a sale could go through.

As recently as earlier this week, Il Messaggero suggested that Sunderland remain a suitor for the Frenchman.

A fee worth €25m was likely to be enough, with the midfielder having failed to impress this season. Now, Guendouzi is on his way to Fenerbahce, with Lazio set to earn €27m from his departure.

SportsDigitale posted a picture of the France international and his entourage flying to Istanbul on a private jet, ahead of the transfer.

It would be easy to suggest that Fenerbahce beat Sunderland to the player but that might not really be true.

The Italian media constantly seemed desperate to mention the Black Cats as a suitor. A formal offer never came forward and they easily used Regis Le Bris’ connections with Guendouzi to talk up the rumours.

Since all the talk came from the Rome press, it is easy to see that these were probably attempts from Lazio to generate a buzz around the player. Adding a Premier League side like Sunderland to the chase helped them elevate Guendouzi’s price-tag.

That has worked, with Lazio subsequently getting €27m from the deal.