Sunderland Targeting Move for “Quality” £ 6 m MEPHAM Upgrade

Fabrizio Romano recently reported that Sunderland are in talks with OGC Nice about an agreement to sign Polish goalkeeper Marcin Bulka this summer.

The Black Cats are interested in a swoop for the old Paris Saint-Germain shot to strengthen Regis‘Squad, as he would compete for Anthony Patterson.

If they can sign the 1 star league, the Premier league The side will also have to strengthen the defense before him, but Chris Mepham will probably not be one of this.

Journalist Graeme Bailey reported Earlier this month, a return to the championship is more likely than a permanent return to the stadium of light.

Sunderland looking at a new central defender

While an agreement for the central defender of Bournemouth seems unlikely, given Bailey’s report, the Black Cats would have one eye on another central defense option.

According to the Sunderland EchoSunderland looks at the Lyon Duje Caleta-Car defender as a potential signature to strengthen their team before the summer transfer window.

The report says that the international Croatia – which is Valued at 6 million pounds sterlingAccording to football transfers, it was linked to the transfer by the French club, despite the start 17 of his 19 Apparitions in the League this season.

This adds that Lyon was relegated to Ligue 2 following a financial audit, which could provide black cats with additional encouragement in their Caleta-Cara pursuit, but that they are ready to appeal this decision.

Why should Sunderland sign Duje Caleta-Car

The newly promoted team should conclude an agreement to sign the Croatian giant this summer, because it could happen as an upgrade on Mepham, who passed the 2024/25 campaign on loan at the Light stadium.

Sunderland will need strong defenders to protect their objective, which could be kept by Bulka, while they are fighting against relegation next season, and Lyon Titan’s performances in Ligue 1 suggest that he would offer more to the team than Wales International.

Caleta-Car, whose former boss Ralph Hasenhuttl said he has a “great presence” On the ground, also caught the eye of his country recently, winning Seven of his nine duels And carrying out eight clearances combined in a 7-0 victory against Gibraltar and a 5-1 victory against the CNOCHé.

As you can see in the table above, the defensive performance of the Croatian star in Ligue 1 this season were simply better than what Mepham produced in his last season in the Premier League.

These statistics suggest that Caleta-Car would be much more dominant defensively, in particular in air battles, while doing more interventions, with plated, interceptions, clearances and blocks, each game to prevent attackers from disturbing the objective.

The Lyon defender would also arrive with first league experience to his credit. He started nine games For Southampton in the 2022/23 campaign, winning 57% of its duels And do 2.3 plated and interceptions per game.

Caleta -car – who transfers the initiate Dean Jones praised for having “major quality“- was not available enough to make a revealing contribution to their season, and they were relegated to the high flight of this term.

However, its form for Lyon since its return to France suggests that it has the quality of being an impressive interpreter in a large European league, in particular compared to Mepham.

Consequently, Sunderland should conclude an agreement to sign the international Croatia after a move for Bulka this summer to improve their defensive options, while removing any need to bring Mepham back on a permanent transfer.