Post by Les on May 14, 2019 9:48:58 GMT
www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/sunderland-land-former-celtic-talent-16271284
Sunderland to land former Celtic talent spotter credited with discovering Virgil Van Dijk
Sunderland are close to sealing a deal that would see John Park join the club's transfer team ahead of the summer transfer window.
Park is highly thought of in the scouting world and during his time as chief scout at Celtic between 2007 and 2016 he is credited with finding the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Victor Wanyama and Ki Sung-yueng (the former Sunderland midfielder now at Newcastle United).
The Black Cats look to have beaten Celtic to landing Park, with Neil Lennon keen on reuniting with the scout at Parkhead if he lands the manager's job on a permanent basis. Lennon wanted Park to replace former Sunderland director of football Lee Congerton, who left the Scottish giants this week to link up with Brendan Rodgers again, this time at Leicester City.
The Daily Mail claim that Park's official title at Sunderlamd will be director of football, although it is unclear exactly how that will work. Negotiations are said to be advanced and a five-year deal is close to being agreed.
ChronicleLive understand that Sunderland head of recruitment Tony Coton left his role last week and it would therefore be credible that Park came in to replace the former Black Cats goalkeeper in a similar role.
In his role at the club, Coton was tasked with finding players and initiating initial contact with clubs, players and their representatives. Richard Hill, as head of football operations, was the man then tasked with completing the deals - negotiating fees and contracts etc.
Whether Park will slot straight into the role Coton played remains to be seen, but Donald was adamant that manager Jack Ross had the final say on all transfers last summer. Indeed, in both transfer windows this season, Ross worked closely with Coton and Hill on every Sunderland signing, commenting that by someone else doing the negotiating for him he could focus more of his attention on the training pitches.
With Sunderland seeking fresh investment this summer, Park will hopefully have a good transfer budget to work with at the Stadium of Light, and they'll no doubt hope he can unearth a gem or two like Champions League finalist and Premier League Player of the Year Van Dijk - who almost signed for Sunderland in 2015.
Speaking about unearthing the Dutch centre-back, Park said in an interview in March: "I can remember most of the games I watched Virgil play in with Groningen and with the Holland Under-21 side. I remember first clapping eyes on him and being impressed in terms of what he had at that stage as a footballer.
"I will be honest and admit that at that time we were comparing him with Mike van der Hoorn who would eventually move to Swansea from Ajax. Mike was at Utrecht at that time and we were doing comparisons with the pair of them.
"We just felt Virgil was pound for pound miles better in terms of projecting him forward. There was that bit more scope in him and we felt there was so much more potential to being able to bring more to the table.
"Virgil was a free spirit at Groningen. I quite like that in a player, someone who likes to gamble even though it will lead to the occasional mistake. I like to see young players trying something different.
"And Virgil would attempt things which was a positive quality in my eyes. There are other young players who always play safe, it’s not something I like."
Reacting to earlier reports that Park was set to rejoin Celtic this summer, another former Celtic scout Peter Houston told the Herald that Park would have many relatively unknown good players lined up due to staying active in the game since leaving Parkhead.
Houston said: "John brought in a lot of money to Celtic when he was head of the operation. I don’t think anybody could argue he did his job properly. But when a new manager comes in he obviously wants his own people there beside him.
“I think John understood that. He spoke to Peter (chief executive Lawwell) and they parted amicably. That allowed Brendan to bring in Lee Congerton. He has just moved to Leicester City. It will be interesting to see what happens. It is a big appointment.
“There are rumours about John going back. I don’t know if there is any truth to them. Personally speaking, I don’t think it would do them any harm at all getting John Park back.
"John does consultancy work for Maccabi Haifa and Vancouver Whitecaps now. He has kept himself busy watching games. I met him at a match not long ago and he was telling me that he had been in South America watching players.
“I have no doubt that if John was to go back into Celtic he would have a number of players lined up that he knows about and wouldn’t have to start from the very beginning."
Sunderland to land former Celtic talent spotter credited with discovering Virgil Van Dijk
Sunderland are close to sealing a deal that would see John Park join the club's transfer team ahead of the summer transfer window.
Park is highly thought of in the scouting world and during his time as chief scout at Celtic between 2007 and 2016 he is credited with finding the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Victor Wanyama and Ki Sung-yueng (the former Sunderland midfielder now at Newcastle United).
The Black Cats look to have beaten Celtic to landing Park, with Neil Lennon keen on reuniting with the scout at Parkhead if he lands the manager's job on a permanent basis. Lennon wanted Park to replace former Sunderland director of football Lee Congerton, who left the Scottish giants this week to link up with Brendan Rodgers again, this time at Leicester City.
The Daily Mail claim that Park's official title at Sunderlamd will be director of football, although it is unclear exactly how that will work. Negotiations are said to be advanced and a five-year deal is close to being agreed.
ChronicleLive understand that Sunderland head of recruitment Tony Coton left his role last week and it would therefore be credible that Park came in to replace the former Black Cats goalkeeper in a similar role.
In his role at the club, Coton was tasked with finding players and initiating initial contact with clubs, players and their representatives. Richard Hill, as head of football operations, was the man then tasked with completing the deals - negotiating fees and contracts etc.
Whether Park will slot straight into the role Coton played remains to be seen, but Donald was adamant that manager Jack Ross had the final say on all transfers last summer. Indeed, in both transfer windows this season, Ross worked closely with Coton and Hill on every Sunderland signing, commenting that by someone else doing the negotiating for him he could focus more of his attention on the training pitches.
With Sunderland seeking fresh investment this summer, Park will hopefully have a good transfer budget to work with at the Stadium of Light, and they'll no doubt hope he can unearth a gem or two like Champions League finalist and Premier League Player of the Year Van Dijk - who almost signed for Sunderland in 2015.
Speaking about unearthing the Dutch centre-back, Park said in an interview in March: "I can remember most of the games I watched Virgil play in with Groningen and with the Holland Under-21 side. I remember first clapping eyes on him and being impressed in terms of what he had at that stage as a footballer.
"I will be honest and admit that at that time we were comparing him with Mike van der Hoorn who would eventually move to Swansea from Ajax. Mike was at Utrecht at that time and we were doing comparisons with the pair of them.
"We just felt Virgil was pound for pound miles better in terms of projecting him forward. There was that bit more scope in him and we felt there was so much more potential to being able to bring more to the table.
"Virgil was a free spirit at Groningen. I quite like that in a player, someone who likes to gamble even though it will lead to the occasional mistake. I like to see young players trying something different.
"And Virgil would attempt things which was a positive quality in my eyes. There are other young players who always play safe, it’s not something I like."
Reacting to earlier reports that Park was set to rejoin Celtic this summer, another former Celtic scout Peter Houston told the Herald that Park would have many relatively unknown good players lined up due to staying active in the game since leaving Parkhead.
Houston said: "John brought in a lot of money to Celtic when he was head of the operation. I don’t think anybody could argue he did his job properly. But when a new manager comes in he obviously wants his own people there beside him.
“I think John understood that. He spoke to Peter (chief executive Lawwell) and they parted amicably. That allowed Brendan to bring in Lee Congerton. He has just moved to Leicester City. It will be interesting to see what happens. It is a big appointment.
“There are rumours about John going back. I don’t know if there is any truth to them. Personally speaking, I don’t think it would do them any harm at all getting John Park back.
"John does consultancy work for Maccabi Haifa and Vancouver Whitecaps now. He has kept himself busy watching games. I met him at a match not long ago and he was telling me that he had been in South America watching players.
“I have no doubt that if John was to go back into Celtic he would have a number of players lined up that he knows about and wouldn’t have to start from the very beginning."
