The Black Cats start overhaul at the club.
Sunderland have continued their Italian overhaul at the club as Roberto De Fanti is appointed as the new director of football and Valentino Angeloni is made chief scout.
The duo will take charge of player recruitment and scouting at the Stadium of Light and will work closely with manager Paolo Di Canio – who is a personal friend of De Fanti.
The new director and Angeloni have worked in tandem in the same roles at both Udinese and Inter Milan before taking up this new position and have already overseen three transfers to the north-east.
Basel’s Cabral, Modibo Diakite of Lazio and Maritimo defender Valentin Roberge have all agreed to join the Black Cats on free transfers and will linkup with their new teammates on July 1.
The appointments of De Fanti and Angeloni marks a shift in the way Sunderland is heading and the club are excited about this new era.
“Roberto and Valentino bring with them a wealth of experience, knowledge and football contacts from across Europe and indeed the world and we are delighted to welcome them to Sunderland,” chief executive Margaret Byrne told the club’s website.
Di Canio will now be left to coach the first-team whilst giving his instructions for new signings to the Italian duo, with Angeloni having made some impressive findings in the past.
The scout was the man who discovered the talent of current Barcelona attacker Alexis Sanchez whilst working at Udinese, with the Chilean signing under Angeloni’s recommendation at the age of 17.
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