I understand the Professional Football Association is to look into his claims amid suggestions that his remarks could put the game into disrepute.

Albanian defender Cana told the press: "I am a winner. I have the experience to play at the top of the league and I am trying to do this with Sunderland. My play is to give 300 per cent, to be strong and to be a leader.

While scientists assert that it is mathematically impossible to give more than 100 per cent to anything, it is accepted in football that the minimum commitment for any new signing is 110 per cent.

But Cana's 300 per cent boast has caused unrest in the Sunderland dressing room.

An insider informed me that "the Lads are busting a gut to eke out between 102 to 107 per cent pre-season," he said. "How can they compete with three times what the human body is physically capable of?"

Theologians have challenged scientists over the 100 per cent maximum, claiming divine intervention can add between 30 and 70 per cent to the human condition.

Durham theologian Rev Lester Bunt said: "If the player has a good engine to begin with, the blessing of Christ Almighty I reckon can push your average midfielder, in the mould of say a Joey Barton, well into the 115 to 127 per cent category.

"Cana's 300 per cent is pushing it a bit though," he added. "We're not miracle workers you know."

Engineers at Sunderland University have joined the debate and are currently developing attachable electric legs which they claim could double the efficiency of any professional footballer. A spokesman declined to comment on whether Cana was involved in any early pilot studies.

The commitment argument in football has raged in the modern game and is a far cry from football's 50s heyday when 40 and 50 per cent commitment pledges were commonplace.

Sir Stanley Matthews was feted by Blackpool fans when on signing in 1947 he pledged to give 62 per cent to the club – a then record footballing commitment.

Such reasonable efforts, however, are not acceptable in today's game:

David Beckham's on and off field fan problems at LA Galaxy are being linked to a perceived 96 per cent commitment. His desire to devote the remaining 4 per cent of his life to charity work and his family just doesn't wash with the fans, many of whom have vowed to punch his lights out and kick him in the back.

But in the modern game with rocketing wages and sponsorship deals footballers are increasingly expected to pledge more than is humanly possible. We await the PFA's investigation into the matter with interest.

* In a completely unrelated story it was revealed that maths standards in Sats tests have dropped throughout the country. No figures for the maths standards of professional footballers were available.

Quote of the week
Artist Natasha Caruana, who is exhibiting her circus themed artwork at Sunderland City Library until September 19.

"I interviewed a lot of older clowns as research for the exhibition and it is very sad."

Film of the week.
Artist Natasha Caruana's art film at the same exhibition. It's called Slapstick and Slaughter and consists of a clown in an arcade stamping on egg effigies of clown faces while laughing and crying.
Seats still available.

Missed point of the week.
Judge Tony Lancaster who barred a flasher from the Metro system after he admitted exposing himself to Sunderland commuters on a train platform.

"He ought not to travel on the Metro system," ruled Judge Lancaster. "He can travel by bus if he needs to."

Bus travellers will be charmed, I'm sure.