Gary Rowell: Keeping Kone was key for Sunderland but not signing M'Vila was a blow

Now that the transfer window is becoming a distant memory, the business clubs have done will be analysed closely.
Lamine KoneLamine Kone
Lamine Kone

As far as Sunderland are concerned it wasn’t a new signing that delighted me the most, it was hanging on to a player that was already ours; Lamine Kone.

When it was reported that Everton had lodged an £18million bid my heart sank.

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Firstly, he is easily our best defender and to important to be allowed to leave and secondly £18million is about half what I value him at, especially if John Stones is worth £50million.

Thankfully, the move to Everton didn’t materialise and I just hope his head is in the right place now and he can concentrate on his Sunderland career with no further distractions.

My biggest disappointment of the window was the failure to bring back Yann M’Vila after his excellent first season on loan.

On the pitch, M’Vila was one of Sunderland’s most consistent players, while off the pitch he seemed to have a genuine love of the club and its supporters and in an era when that is not always the case, the fans took him to their hearts.

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Flying to London on the last day of the window and hoping Sunderland would make a move showed his desire to return, but when the deadline expired with no news it was a huge disappointment and seemed such a waste.

I know M’Vila has signed a pre-contract with Sunderland but I don’t know how binding that is and January is a long way off for a player we could desperately do with now.