Celtic’s Nir Bitton looks set to leave the club this summer.
Nir Bitton (L)
Sunderland need reinforcements this summer, having suffered relegation from the Premier League in what was a dismal campaign for the Black Cats.
Sunday’s 5-1 defeat at Chelsea meant that Sunderland finished rock bottom of the table, 16 points adrift of safety, and manager David Moyes resigned from his position as manager on Monday evening.
The search is now on for yet another new manager at the Stadium of Light, and they will be tasked with finding players who can help Sunderland mount an immediate push for promotion back to the Premier League.
Celtic’s Nir Bitton (R) celebrates scoring
One possible name should be Celtic’s Nir Bitton, with the Israeli seemingly edging towards the exit door at Celtic Park after a frustrating season under Brendan Rodgers.
Bitton, 25, was a key player for Celtic under Ronny Deila, but has been in and out of the side this season, starting just 16 of their 38 league games, and the signs point to him leaving the club in the coming months.
Not only is Bitton behind the likes of Scott Brown, Callum McGregor, Stuart Armstrong and Tom Rogic in the midfield pecking order, but January signing Eboue Kouassi looks set for a bigger role in the future, leaving Bitton in limbo.
Aberdeen’s Adam Rooney (L) in action with Celtic’s Nir Bitton
Sunderland registered an interest in signing Bitton back in 2015, as reported by the Shields Gazette, but were remarkably quoted a £10million transfer fee for the midfielder, who was impressing at the time.
In January of this year though, The Scottish Sun claimed that Celtic had slashed their asking price to just £2million, and that should be enough to make Sunderland consider another approach for Bitton.
Celtic’s Nir Bitton in action with Rangers’ Andy Halliday
A giant at 6ft 4in tall, Bitton is strong, composed on the ball and needs to be playing first-team football having lost his place in the Israeli national team, with Sunderland a realistic landing spot given their prior interest in him.
Whoever arrives as Sunderland boss does have the likes of Darron Gibson, Lee Cattermole, Didier Ndong and Jack Rodwell in the squad, but Bitton would give the Black Cats a true defensive protector in front of the back four – and at just a fifth of the price they were quoted two years ago, this could be Sunderland’s opportunity to land a bargain.
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