With events such as the opening of the summer transfer window (June 14th), the first games of pre-season (8th July) and fixture release day (June 22nd) fast approaching, here are some of the most recent rumours at SAFC.
WRIGHT TO ROTHERHAM
Rumours are circulating that fellow Championship club Rotherham are keen on signing Australian international Bailey Wright, as the Millers look to bolster their defence in a bid to avoid second-season syndrome and relegation to League One. After starting off the season at Sunderland, following his role in getting us out of League One, and making 16 appearances for us; Bailey then made a January loan move to relegation threatened Rotherham. He also featured for Australia in the 2022 World Cup and has made 29 caps for the Socceroos in total. This rumour may be slightly surprising given that his time out on loan was marred by two injuries, a concussion and then a broken leg which meant he only played seven times. Clearly his performances in that limited game time have been enough for the Rotherham management and recruitment staff to want to sign him permanently. Wright can play as a centre back or full back, although his lack of pace means he's much more suited to playing at the heart of defence.
CIRKIN FOR LATVIA?
A bit of an unexpected story, but Dennis Cirkin is a wanted man by two different national teams. Firstly there’s his home country of the Republic of Ireland -he was born in Dublin- and the other is Latvia, who he qualifies for because his parents are Latvian. Stephen Kelly, the manager of the ROI national team, has reportedly been tracking Dennis Cirkin’s progress over this season and has made some initial enquiries on his national team status. He’s yet to receive a response however. Meanwhile Latvian boss, Dainis Kazakevics, has spoken with Cirkin and made these comments on the matter: "There has been active communication with Cirkin and we have presented our vision to him remotely. We have shown interest in seeing him in the national team, but the decision is on his side. It is also important that he wants to and is motivated". Cirkin is of course only 21 so has some time to consider which team he wants to play for. With him being a promising young player, the possibility of him one day playing for England isn’t too alien of a concept for him to rule out entirely; especially as he's represented the Three Lions at youth level.
CELTIC CONSIDERING FARIOLI
34-year-old Italian manager Francesco Farioli, current boss of Turkish Super League club Alanyaspor has had talks with Celtic over the possibility of him becoming their new manager. You may remember a few weeks ago some reports were saying that he was being considered by Sunderland as a potential replacement for Tony Mowbray, rumours which have since died down very much now. Those same rumours also suggested that Watford were considering him for their managerial role, before giving the job to Valerien Ismael.
PATTERSON EARNS FIRST CAP FOR ENGLAND U21
Finally, Anthony Patterson has earned his first cap for England’s U21 team in a behind closed-doors fixture against Japan’s U22s. He replaced Carl Rushworth at half-time in a 2-0 defeat. England’s U21s are currently at a pre-Euro training camp, with the final squad for the tournament set to be announced on the 14th June, which will hopefully include Patterson.
