How Sunderland beat Premier League and European clubs to Nectar Triantis signing - and Tony Mowbray's role

Sunderland kick-started their summer transfer business with the signing of Nectar Triantis for an undisclosed fee from Central Coast Mariners.

And fresh details have now emerged of how Sunderland managed to beat off competition from Premier League Crystal Palace, a Championship rival and European clubs.

The 20-year-old centre-back made 26 appearances for the Mariners during the 2022-23 season as they lifted the A-League title, it is reported that Triantis will cost Sunderland a fee of $500K.

His representative is a leading Sydney-based player manager Buddy Farah and he has been speaking about the deal.

He told ftbl.com: "There is no doubt that Nectar has a big future ahead, and I’m sure the name Triantis will be spoken about for years to come.

“He deserves this move and despite a number of other serious options this ticked a lot of boxes. 

“Sunderland has been very professional in the process and have a very good head coach in Tony Mowbray who ironically played as a centre back."

The report adds: "Leaders of the pack were Premier League Crystal Palace, but their plan to initially loan Triantis proved less appealing than Sunderland’s impromptu bid.

"There were also approaches from the Bundesliga, Stoke City and clubs in Denmark, Greece and Norway."

A chat over Zoom with key Sunderland personnel - including head coach Tony Mowbray - proved key. Palace were keen but they would have likely loaned him out, Sunderland put forward a proposal which included a route to the first team.

That coupled with the personal touch helped seal the deal.