Sevilla’s goal-scoring midfielder has been linked with Sunderland and West Brom in the past but now appears more likely to move to Serie A.
It is unlikely that Vicente Iborra spends his nights waking up in cold sweats, his dreams haunted by regrets of Sunderland. Quite the opposite in fact. While the Black Cats are at the bottom of the Premier League, hanging on to one of their last lives, Sevilla have the La Liga title, not to mention the Champions League quarter finals, in their sights.
According to Sky Sports, Sunderland agreed a £7.7 million fee for the 6ft 4ins midfielder in the summer only for Sevilla to get cold feet prior to the medical. And they will be thankful they did.
Iborra, who helped the club win three successive Europa League titles under Unai Emery, may no longer be a regular starter in the Jorge Sampaoli reign but his seven La Liga goals have proved invaluable in their quest to break up the Barca/Madrid triopoly.
However, the fact that he has only started seven domestic games all season should not raise hopes of an impending Premier League switch. His physicality would make him an ideal fit for English football while his ability to score from midfield would have proven invaluable to a Sunderland side utterly reliant on Jermain Defoe for goals.
The Birmingham Mail also claimed in 2015 that West Brom had held talks with Iborra only for him to turn them down. An imposing presence with frightening aerial ability, the Spaniard appeared a prototype for a Tony Pulis team and, with Gareth McAuley the club’s joint top scorer, a player capable of providing a respectable goals tally will be at the top of West Brom’s priorities in the summer.
Although this is unlikely to lead the duo to Iborra with Calciomercato reporting that he could follow esteemed Sporting Director Monchi to Roma if, as expected, he ends his long association with the club in the summer.
And although any potential deal always seemed ambitious, this will not stop Sunderland and West Brom wistfully ruing missing out on their ideal midfield signing.
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