New Coventry City signing Ricardo Dinanga has admitted he almost joined Sunderland before putting pen to paper with the Championship outfit, speaking to Echo Live.
As the man himself says, “it all worked out for the best” in the end. At least as far as Coventry are concerned.
After finishing an impressive 15th in their first season back in the second tier – 12 points above the relegation zone – Coventry are gearing up for another season of Championship football.
Sunderland, however, will once more spend their Saturdays in Accrington, Cambridge and Fleetwood after failing to break free of their League One shackles for a third year in a row.
It remains to be seen what sort of role Dinanga will play, however, for a Coventry side that will be looking to establish itself in the safety of mid-table while avoiding the dreaded ‘second season syndrome’.
“I was delighted to sign with Coventry,” says Dinanga, a winger who joined from Cork City last month.
“I came on trial here in April and must have impressed because they agreed to pay the compensation fee very quickly,
Why Dinanga didn’t join Sunderland
“It could have been different because I went on trial with Sunderland in January. I was initially meant to go for a week but my agent rang me towards the end of the first week and said they wanted to keep me on for another week and would I mind staying?
“The second week went well and it looked as if I would be signing for them but they couldn’t agree a fee with City.
“(But) it all worked out for the best.”
Of course, Dinanga isn’t the only man at the Midlands side who is a former Sunderland target.
City manager Mark Robins was one of the leading candidates to replace Jack Ross in late 2019 but signed a new deal with Coventry as the Black Cats turned to the unpopular Phil Parkinson instead.
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