Kristjaan Speakman: Nazariy Rusyn's 'huge effort' to seal Sunderland deal and what fans can expect

Sunderland are hopeful that Nazariy Rusyn will be able to join his new team mates next week as Kristjaan Speakman praised the striker's 'huge effort' to get the deal done.

The Black Cats reached an agreement with Zorya Luhansk on deadline day last week, having made the 24-year-old one of their key targets from the beginning of the summer transfer window.

It proved understandably to be a hugely complex deal given the ongoing situation in Ukraine, and the player did his medical tests in Paris before the agreement could be announced.

Sunderland are now in the process of finalising Rusyn's visa and are expecting an imminent resolution.

"It was a really complex process on a number of fronts, as I’m sure you can imagine," Speakman said on Wednesday.

"That negotiation and conversation has been going on for a couple of months. We had to perform his medical overseas in Europe, the boy himself had to drive about 22 hours in a day to make sure he could get the deal done. It was a huge effort from the kid to make sure the deal got over the line.

"We’re just going through the visa process at the moment so he should be with us any day now. I need to check in [with the staff] exactly when that will be, it’ll hopefully before the weekend.

"Then there’s a little bit of paperwork and he’ll hopefully be available shortly after."

Rusyn will need time to adapt to his new environment but with some now significant senior experience under his belt, Speakman is confident that he can make an impact in the not-too-distant future on Wearside.

"We’re trying to find players for the team and sometimes to maybe be the next one in the team, but sometimes players can surprise you both ways," Speakman said.

"We still think he’s up and coming to a degree, he’s a little bit of a late bloomer and yet at the same time he’s had some really strong performances over the last 18-24 months.

"We certainly expect him to come here and after a bit of adaptation be able to impact the team and be a main player in the team for us. That’s what we’ve seen in his games and that’s what we feel he can bring."

Reports in Ukraine say Rusyn has now arrived in the UK to complete those formalities Speakman referenced on Wednesday.