Derek McInnes is Sunderland’s top choice – and with The Black Cats losing many of their attacking stars, a reunion with Aberdeen’s Niall McGinn makes sense.
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes
After a month of waiting, it appears that Sunderland are finally edging closer to appointing a new captain to steer this sinking ship into calmer waters.
The Scottish Sun claim that Black Cats chief executive Martin Bain will make a formal approach to the club’s first choice, Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes, this week.
The report adds that the 45-year-old has piqued Sunderland’s interest with his sterling work north of the border. Aberdeen lost to Celtic in both domestic cups last season while also finishing runners-up to Brendan Rodgers’ side in the league for the third successive campaign – which is a remarkable feat considering The Dons were mired in the bottom six when he took over four years ago.
And it’s reported that Sunderland will offer the former West Brom midfielder a wage packet three times higher than his current pay at Pittodrie.
Get McGinn in
Furthermore, his arrival would coincide with an almighty rebuilding job at the Stadium of Light. Sunderland are expected to lose up to ten senior players this summer with talismanic goalscorer Jermain Defoe the first to depart on a free thanks to an exit clause in his contract.
Jermain Defoe scored over half of their 29 Premier League goals last season
Furthermore, Victor Anichebe is also out of contract while Fabio Borini is expected to be sold. Clearly, attacking reinforcements are a must but the club’s spiralling debts mean that is easier said than done.
Therefore, it would be little surprise if one of McInnes’ first acts would be to bring Niall McGinn with him to Wearside. The Northern Ireland international has been superb throughout McInnes’ reign at Aberdeen, hitting double figures in the league in all but one of his five seasons at the club.
Niall McGinn scored 10 league goals last season
He’s also available on a free, with Rangers, Sheffield United and Bolton Wanderers heavily linked. However, he could also be an excellent short-term solution for Sunderland. And appointing McInnes could push them to the front of the queue.
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