There’s reaction to a couple of Middlesbrough transfer deals that didn’t happen in January.
And Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo’s previews this afternoon’s crucial Premier League game at Newcastle.
SUNDERLAND’S OGUNSUYI PLAN
Trey Ogunsuyi turned heads again with another eye-catching outing for Sunderland’s Under-21s on Friday night.
The young striker – who was linked with Liverpool in the January window – scored a hat-trick for Graeme Murty’s side in the 3-3 draw with Southampton.
It’s been a breakthrough season for Ogunsuyi, who made his first team debut in the FA Cup against Stoke City and has been named on the bench by Regis Le Bris on nine occasions in the Championship.
Under-21s boss Murty has now told of what Ogunusuyi has to do next to continue his rapid and impressive development.
He said: “He’s got really good aspects to his game. When you try and look at a young player, we don’t profile him at where he is right now, we look at the long term.
“His ceiling is far away from where he is right now. We need to try and harness what he’a really good at. If we can service him in the correct manner, he has loads of growth to come and it’s up to him.
“What we’re seeing from him is a young man who struggles at times to put everything into action because he’s trying to do lots. We want to see solid fundamentals. With that his innate stuff and outstanding moments will become more impactful.
“We want our forwards to be creative, explosive and a goal threat but we also want them to be reliable. So our managers – myself and the first team gaffer – see him as a viable prospect at the top of the pitch. That’s our target.”
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DERBY’S MIDDLESBROUGH TRANSFER DISAPPOINTMENT
Derby signed Matt Clarke in January – but were disappointed to not land a couple more Boro players before the end of the winter window.
The Rams wanted Dan Barlaser and were one of the clubs interested in signing Anfernee Dijksteel.
But Boro had made it clear both players would only be allowed to leave if replacements were signed and weren’t going to risk leaving themselves too short at right-back or in midfield.
That meant Derby had to admit defeat, with the Rams also missing out on West Brom’s John Swift despite a late move for the midfielder.
And looking back on the January window, Derby’s chief executive Stephen Pearce said: “Are we ever happy? No. Could we have done more? Absolutely.
“Some of the deals that we lost on the last day of the transfer window, I’ll be completely honest, we were disappointed about. But it was out of our hands, some of it. In the January window, you can have things lined up, you can have deals agreed with clubs, with players, with their representatives all ready to go, and it’s like a domino effect.
“It genuinely is. Some of the ones we lost out on haven’t come out from the parent clubs. That could be target number one, target number two, and target number three. It’s very difficult, and those decisions are out of our hands.”
LOUIE BARRY CLAIM
On the subject of Derby, the Rams were one of the clubs interested in Aston Villa’s Louie Barry – who was linked with both Sunderland and Middlesbrough in January.
And Pearce, Derby’s chief executive, has now suggested Hull City – who were the club who ended up signing Barry – will end up paying Villa £1.5m over the course of his three-and-a-bit month loan spell.
He said: “I’ve always mentioned, we won’t do something if it doesn’t make financial sense.
“I think one of the deals that we had lined up, which we’ve been looking at since probably the start of December and having those conversations, another football club were willing to pay for a player that’s not actually featured in the Championship yet.
“It was £1.5m for them to sign for three months to the end of the season. For us, when we talk about that risk versus reward, even though we could have afforded it, we weren’t willing to necessarily take that risk and that financial risk for someone who hadn’t yet played in the Championship.
“You can lose deals based on us making our own decisions internally, but you can also lose deals for things that are out of your hands.”
FOREST’S NEWCASTLE TRIP START OF CRUNCH SPELL
Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo knows his side are approaching a crunch part of the season.
Forest, who are enjoying a dream campaign and sit third in the Premier League after 25 games, visit St James’ Park today to face Newcastle before home matches with Arsenal and Manchester City.
There is an FA Cup fourth-round tie against Ipswich sandwiched between the Gunners and City meetings so the state of Forest’s ambitions could look different by early March.
“Not only this game, we are reaching the moment of the season that all the situations will be decided,” he said.
“Everyone will be fighting for their own objectives, it’s where everything is decided in the next 10 games.
“It happens in all the seasons, when everything happens.
“We have been able to compete really well. This is what we expect for the final games of the season, knowing that each time the opponents will seem harder, the games will be more difficult and this is what I mean to be stronger – to deal with what is all around, our expectations, our own beliefs, moments of performance that you cannot sustain. It’s all aspects.”
