Has the age of the football mercenary reached its peak?

My club will suffer in January. I am a Sunderland fan so I am used ti the suffering but it feels now like it is getting out of hand. It feels to me like the age of the football mercenary is reaching its peak.I know that for a long time the players have seen the game as a way of making huge sums of money while they still can. Their career is short and the rewards for moving clubs always seem bigger then the rewards for staying put. Add agents into the mix that like to make a deal then you have a mix that puts players in total power over clubs and fans sit at the lowest level of the pecking order. You see in football, showing loyalty means you can be exploited. The club knows that you are not suddenly going to up sticks and support the next closest team. Loyalty means that you will show up week after week, but the merchandise and out up with whatever is thrown at you.

This January transfer window will show that the club have little power against players,and it is the fans that suffer. This is highlighted by two players. The dealings of Yann M'Vila and Lamine Kone show that football has reached a new level of player power. It shows that the mercenaries are in control.

Yann M'Vila
Yann is quite simply the best midfielder Sunderland have had on their books for a very long time. He was absolute quality at the end of last season and had signed a pre-contract agreement with us to begin on the 1st January 2017.

Something happened on deadline day at the end of the Summer 2016 transfer window as Yann M'Vila arrived in England only to post a cryptic social media message that Sunderland had broken his heart. This is a man with a track record for playing clubs off against each other for his own gain.

It has been announced this week that he is now going to join Sunderland in January, The club stated that they only want players that really wanted to play for the club. Our best midfielder in many years was staying in Russia, with a club that he had fallen out with completely only a matter of months ago.

This is the type of mercenary behaviour that gives footballers a bad name. I understand where the club is coming from and if he isn't committed to the cause then he won't be an asset. He looked highly motivated when playing for Sam Allardyce in the second half of last season and if he wasn't going to be that motivated again then maybe he wouldn't have been the same player. It is the player that concerns me.

Lamine Kone
Another player that really concerns me is Kone. He was a revelation towards the end of last season as he defended brilliantly and scored goals as we stayed up. Obviously his transfer stock rose and he was in demand. But the club is looking upwards and want to keep their best players. He had only signed in January 2016 and really owed us at least one full season.

Kone did not see it that way. He wanted a transfer to Everton and it looked as though he was going to force this earlier in the year. he missed training, suggested he might refuse to play and fell out with the club completely.

In the end the deal was not done. The performances of Kone this season have not lived up to the promise he showed last and there is a very strong possibility that he will get his move to Everton in the January window. Another mercenary and his agent work the system their way until he gets the deal he wants. he has shown no loyalty to the club at all. We signed him from the relative obscurity of Ligue 1 and he wants more.

Sunderland
What do the club do? I think that we need a strategy as a club ti determine the way we are going to deal with players. For all the flaws of Steve Brice, he went to the big clubs and brought in their up and coming players on loan. We helped the career of Danny Wellbeck, Danny Rose and others with this way of working.

Southampton look from the outside like they tell their players once they have given two years service then they will not stand in their way of an offer from a big club.They have made huge profits on the likes of Lallana, Clyne and Wanyama while getting at least two quality seasons out of them.

Sunderland don't seem to have a strategy for attracting the best players, or for retaining those players if another offer comes along. I understand from players point of view that they don't want to stay with a club fighting relegation to the last few games of the season year after year. We need to grow and the way to do this is to have a strategy. Ellis Short seems to be content with just avoiding relegation every year. His players are not and neither are the fans.

Who will be the big movers in the January transfer window?

We are edging towards the January transfer window and clubs will have already set budgets, discussed targets and made init enquiries about how they wish to recruit. With a few "big" clubs underachieving and untold riches available for staying in the Premier League, I expect a considerable amount of money to be spent. Here I take a look at the major recruiters in January and where I expect them to splash the cash.

Chelsea

The champions have has a dreadful start to the season, and Jose Mourinho is no stranger to spending his club owners money. They have looked weak in defence and long-term replacements for John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic are needed. With Diego Costa looking injury-prone and neither Loic Remy nor Radamel Falcao cutting the mustard I can see a move for a striker - especially of they can offload Falcao back to Monaco.

Newcastle

Although Steve McClaren has stated that he's happy with the current squad, the loss of Tim Krul is a massive blow. A quality keeper is worth 10 points per season, and this could be the difference between survival and relegation this year. I'd expect them to look for a short-term option, someone like Victor Valdes, as Krul will be number one choice again when he's fit.

Sunderland

After another terrible start to a season and another managerial change I would expect some Big Sam wheeling and dealing in the transfer window. There will undoubtedly by some players leaving and others coming in, but the true nature of who comes in is dependent on who leaves. Expect some of the older players such as Wes Brown and Jermain Defoe to leave and some defenders to come in.

Aston Villa

Another big club with a new manager and an awful season to date. Villa haven't spent much for a long time now and, like Sunderland, I can't see loads of players coming in unless loads of players leave. But they have to improve immediately if they are to have any hope of statyng up.

These won't be the only teams that need strengthening in January but are the ones that stand out to me as the most likely at the moment. But all it takes is an injury for a team to suddenly see a gaping hole where that they think needs filling with an expensive player.

Watch this space!

I'm worried that Sunderland are getting left behind

It's that time of the year, as teams pout their squads together fore the upcoming season. Because of the Euros next summer, the Premier League starts really early this year, with the first round of matches starting on 8th August. This means that having your squad together early and getting them settled into a team plan is vital.

From Sunderland's point of view, the season that started with Paolo Di Canio as manager and we lost so many early games started the snowball effect that only a change of manager and an unbelievable run from Gus Poyet's men got us out of.

The club have stated that they want to move away from perennial relegation fights and towards the top 10. Dick Advocaat stated at the end of the season, when he hadn't decided whether he was staying or not, that we needed 4 or 5 quality signings to take us up the league and away from the bottom end. And as a fan I agree. Looking at the transfer business that teams with similar ambitions have conducted, I'm starting to worry about what we are doing and where we are being left behind. Sebastian Coates and Adam Matthews are good additions in my opinionj, but we need to be looking for another cetnre-back, a left midfielder/winger, a striker and probably another central midfielder. Let's have a look at what some of the other team have done so far this Summer-

Crystal Palace have signed Yohan Cabaye, which is a statement of major intent for the club.He is a talented player and will dictate the tempo of their game. Although he's never a player that we would have gone for, someone of his quality in central midfield would be a major boost to our club. I think that Jack Rodwell was perceived to be that type of player but injury and poor form haven't allowed him to show it.

Two signings for West Ham stand out so far, and that's Angelo Ogbonna from Juventus and Dimitri Payet from Marseille. Both look like they are quality players with experience of European competition. And both are players that look to have been targeted as part of the planning of the club - they've bought players where they need to strengthen. We, however are linked with Stewart Downing, who is being shifted on for Payet. It shows a lack of ambition and doesn't go any way to solving the problem we have with pace in our side.

Stoke City have made some very good signings and have pre-empted the loss of Asmir Begovic by promoting Jack Butland and buying Shay Given. Marco van Ginkel looks to be a promising prospect and the imminent arrival of Glen Johnson will bring in more experience. The return from injury of Bojan will be a massive boost to the club and will feel like a new signing.

Newcastle have been fairly quiet as well but have announced today that they've signed Georginio Wijnaldum, who looks a very good player and is one that we've been linked to. I think that Georginio Wijnaldum would be a massive step up from playing Connor Whickham on the left and it's a real shame that we've missed out on him - if indeed we were ever in for him.

Another team that have been quite busy is Aston Villa. They've spent the Fabian Delph money on Senegalese midfielder Idrissa Gueye, got defender Micah Richards on a free transfer and converted Scott Sinclair's loan from Manchester City into a permanent deal. These all represent good value and Richards signing will probably gall Sunderland fans the most as he looked all set to join us last Summer before Gus Poyet's intervention. Again, the club have looked at where they need players and acted swiftly to get their targets.

Swansea have added Ghanaian forward Andre Ayew on a free transfer from Marseille in their move that has caught the eye the most, for me. This player is quality and adds pace to their counter-attacking style. He'll take some of the pressure off Bafetimbi Gomis after the departure of Wilfried Bony.

I know that there are always huge amounts of rumours at this time of year, and I don't expect (and I don't want) us to buy every player that we're linked with but so many that we're linked with look like a good match and then we find that they've signed somewhere else.

I'd like the squad out together before the first game and us to move forward at the start of the season by picking up the points that start to move us away from the likes of the promoted clubs, West Brom and Leicester, who I think are the candidates apart from us to be struggling. To do this, we need to replace the creaking old-timers in central defence, provide cover for Patrick van Aanholt at left-back, sort out the slow uninventive options at left attacking midfield and free up Defoe and a new strike partner to score goals. No small order - especially when there's only 27 days until the season starts.

 

Liverpool's transfer dealings indicate Sterling is on his way

Sunderland have made their first signing of the pre-season with the turning of Sebastian Coates loan into a permanent transfer. It's a good signing based in his form towards the end of the season. The next step is to add some more quality to the squad with the acquisition of a right back, another centre back, a central midfielder and a left-sided attacking midfielder or winger.

But it's the transfer dealings of Liverpool that interest me the most this Summer as they have already added six players and look determined to add Christian Benteke as well. They spent heavily with the windfall from the Luis Suarez sale last Summer and they must now have a huge squad with some pretty mediocre players taking up precious pounds on the wage bill. The next task will be to move on 8 to 12 of their under-achievers to balance the books and the squad. The likes of Fabio Borini, Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert haven't cut the mustard and there will probably be takers for them given their past records at other clubs.

But all this activity leads me to the conclusion that the biggest English deal of the transfer window has already been lined up. It's the outgoing transfer of Raheem Sterling - probably to Manchester City. City are looking to spend again and reinvest in their homegrown quotas for European competition. Having lost James Milner and Micah Richards and their academy not bringing through talent quickly enough, this is where they will have to spend big.

The days of a club selling a player and then looking for replacements with the money changed when Daniel Levy spent the Gareth Bale cash before the Bale deal was finalised and Liverpool have repeated the trick this Summer with Sterling. But Liverpool don't seem to have solved the problem that the Suarez departure left them with. A season without Suarez and Sturridge has shown the difference that goals make to a team, so a fit and firing Christian Benteke looks like their most important signing of the transfer window.

Elsewhere there hasn't been a flurry of activity with the odd signing here and there but there will be plenty of transfers to come with most bus expected to sign at least four or five players.

There's much more to come!