The Black Cats released a statement on Wednesday explaining that they will no longer be signing M’Vila in January.
Sunderland announced in a statement on their official website on Wednesday evening that they will not be signing midfielder Yann M’Vila in January as planned.
M’Vila impressed for the Black Cats during a season on loan from Russian side Rubin Kazan last term, playing 40 games in all competitions and helping the club avoid relegation.
As early as February, he expressed his desire to stay with the club on a permanent basis, provided that they did indeed avoid the drop.
However, the Wearside club were clearly in no rush to seal a permanent deal in the summer, something which led to M’Vila expressing his frustrations in a very public way with a post on his Instagram account.
Sunderland did agree a pre-contract agreement with the player for the 26-year-old France international to join the club upon the expiry of his Kazan contract at the end of December.
However, Black Cats CEO Martin Bain has now revealed that M’VIla has said that he no longer wishes to join the club, and the board and manager David Moyes have agreed to cancelt the deal.
Bain wrote on the club’s website: “I was contacted this week by Yann M’Vila’s representatives, who advised that the player no longer wishes to join Sunderland.
“There was a three-and-a-half-year agreement in place, however after discussions with the manager we have decided not to enforce the contract. Any player that we bring to Sunderland Football Club must be wholly committed.
“Yann M’Vila will therefore not be joining us in January and we wish him well for the future.”
Though Sunderland’s lowly league position and whispers of a possibility of a new Kazan contract may have played the part, it is perhaps understandable that M’Vila does not feel the same desire to stay with Sunderland after the way the club spurned him in the summer.
That certainly seems to be the view of many supporters. Though they would be forgiven for feeling anger towards M’Vila for the change of heart, it appears that many instead blame the club for failing to secure a deal in the summer.
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