Inter Star Sulley Muntari Can Return To Sunderland

Sulley Muntari is too expensive for Sunderland

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has refused to rule out a move for Sulley Muntari – but only if Inter Milan lower their price for the midfielder.

The Ghana international arrived at the Stadium of Light in January on loan from the Italian Serie A champions with hopes that the former Portsmouth man would do enough to convince Bruce to award him a contract to help bolster the squad for next season.

However, Muntari – given the lack of game time he had following last year’s World Cup – struggled to keep up with the pace of the Premier League, and while he has shown flashes of the form which had won him his big move to Italy in the first place, it wasn’t enough to impress Bruce that a permanent move would be value for money for Sunderland.

“There was a deal in place and we looked at it, and basically it’s a bit rich for us,” conceded Bruce.

“We’ll address it over the summer as things might change but right now we don’t want to commit ourselves.

“If there’s a reduction in price, it’s possible that we might go back in for him. We have seen the best of Sulley these past two or three weeks. He came to us having not played for six months and he’s found life back in the Premier League a bit tough. But he’s a good pro and a very good player but we’ve made the decision not to pursue our interest.

“I have always prided myself that you have to get good value for money. It is part of good management – it certainly is part of my remit too, of course, that you have to look after the club as well.

“It’s a disappointment because I could have done with him for the last couple of games, but if we had played him, it would have triggered the automatic clause and at this particular moment, it’s too rich.”

As this season draws to a close, many down Wearside way would be forgiven at expressing relief that it will soon be over – more so given the optimism generated by their impressive start to the campaign, which hinted at bigger things before the poor run of results and foul luck with injuries kicked in.

However, Bruce insists that given the overall picture, progress has been made although he knows that with the injury situation, there is still some hard work that will await him come August.

Source: The Journal