Jeremain Lens appears to be heading to Fenerbahce on loan, but has lashed out at his parent club in the process.
Jeremain Lens celebrates with teammates after scoring the second goal for Sunderland
Despite playing a part in Sunderland’s Premier League match against Southampton just three days ago, Jeremain Lens is now set to leave the club on loan and join Turkish side Fenerbahce.
The Dutch winger is set for a reunion with former manager Dick Advocaat, who brought Lens to the Stadium of Light when he was in charge at Sunderland. Lens, however, appears to have now left the Wearside club in some pretty acrimonious circumstances.
Speaking to Fox Sports (interview in Dutch) Lens claimed that “Sunderland would just love to get rid of me. I did not play, was not even on the bench. I just had a problem with the club. What? No idea.
“Tomorrow [Tuesday] I will undergo the medical examination. I do not expect any problems. I’m looking forward to it. It’s a nice transfer. Fenerbahce is a great club and a great challenge. I have a good relationship with Dick, but he also knows my qualities. It is not that he is doing me a favour. This is perhaps, for the purpose of (playing for) Holland again, a good step. I go to Fenerbahce if the chance is to get more playing time. I did not find it strange that I was missing the last couple of times in the national squad. It was understandable because I was not playing.”
Jeremain Lens shoots at goal
An £8 million transfer from Ukrainian side Dinamo Kiev in 2015, Lens made a bright start to life with the Black Cats under Advocaat, but found playing time harder to come by under previous manager Sam Allardyce, who when asked in interview last season about Lens’ lack of first team outings said that the player had found it difficult to adapt to the English league. His fortunes have not seemed to improve much under the new head coach at Sunderland David Moyes.
Rest assured that his comments will not have gone down well with Moyes and his team-mates at his parent club. Sunderland have been fighting off the threat of relegation in recent Premier League seasons, and the boss expects another struggle for the team this year. Moyes will only want to work with players that are fully committed to the cause – and Lens’ comments may just have closed the door on any potential return to the Sunderland team he might have had after his loan spell.
One thing that is for sure is that Moyes, at least publicly, made no statement about his intention to get rid of Lens, so the player’s comments about the Black Cats’ supposed delight at getting the player off their books seems a puzzling one, especially after he featured in their match on the weekend.
We will have to wait until next season to find out if the Dutch winger has a long term future at the club, after his controversial comments about being loaned out this term.
Lens in action against Middlesbrough
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