The Black Cats have agreed a deal – £10.4m plus a further £1m in add-ons – with Getafe, and the 28-year-old is now set to complete his medical when he arrives on Wearside, ahead of signing a four-year deal.
It’s a major boost for the Black Cats, who have a number of key defenders out injured, but with Alderete set to arrive just a matter of days before the Premier League opener against West Ham, Regis Le Bris is still likely to partner Dan Ballard with Jenson Seelt on Saturday at the Stadium of Light.
Seelt played in what Le Bris appears to see as his strongest current side against Augsburg on Saturday, with the head coach praising the young Dutchman for his display.
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Another option for Le Bris on Saturday is moving Reinildo over to centre-back and starting fellow new recruit Arthur Masuaku, but that again feels unlikely given the former West Ham defender hasn’t had any sort of a pre-season and hasn’t yet trained with his new Sunderland teammates after only completing his move on Sunday morning.
Sunderland are without Luke O’Nien, Aji Alese, Leo Hjelde and Dennis Cirkin for the first month of the season. The Black Cats were already in the market for a centre-half before those setbacks following Chris Mepham’s return to Bournemouth at the end of last season.
Sunderland chiefs have held talks with various clubs over potential targets throughout the summer, but have now made a breakthrough on Alderete, who is in line to become the 11th new arrival of the summer on Wearside.
Le Bris didn’t rule out an effort to sign two central defenders when quizzed on Sunderland’s plans after Sunday’s home defeat to Rayo Vallecano.
That might well depend on whether he decides to keep Seelt at the Stadium of Light or send the 22-year-old out on loan for the season.
He said: “We’ll see. For example Jenson did really well during pre-season. It’s always a question of opportunities. We need the right players for our project. We’ll see.”
