SUNDERLAND have beat Celtic in the race to sign £3m Ivory Coast winger Jocelin Ta Bi.
The 20-year-old has penned a four-and-a-half-year deal following his arrival from five-time Israeli champions Maccabi Netanya.
Ta Bi, whose move was not completed in time to face Crystal Palace tomorrow, said: “Playing in the Premier League has always been a dream of mine, and I’m incredibly excited for what’s ahead.”
Despite Ta Bi’s arrival, Sunderland’s 15th signing since winning promotion last season, they want to hang out to left winger Romaine Mundle even though a host of Championship clubs and Rangers being keen.
But ruthless Regis Le Bris IS open to offloading local heroes Anthony Patterson and Dan Neil.
And he claims neither the goalkeeper or midfielder, both academy graduates, can have any complaints as Robin Roefs and Granit Xhaka are BETTER.
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The pair were instrumental in last season’s play-off triumph but have barely had a kick this term following the huge summer recruitment drive.
Several Championship teams are interested in the duo, and though Le Bris admits it has been difficult not giving them more minutes, he says they cannot have any grumbles.
He said: “It’s always tough. We have to accept that, for us and for them because you want to play and when you don’t play you are frustrated, which is normal.
“After that, you have competition. For example, for those two players Dan with Granit and Patto with Robin. This is the competition and it’s fair to say the best players are playing right now.
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“That doesn’t mean they’re not good players, they are both good players but competition is competition.”
Meanwhile, Le Bris fears high-flying Sunderland will be facing a wounded animal in Palace.
The Black Cats are looking to extend their ten-game Stadium of Light unbeaten run this afternoon against the out-of-sorts Eagles.
Palace have gone nine without a win and were embarrassingly dumped out of the FA Cup, a trophy they lifted in May, by non-league Macclesfield.
And they face further chaos after manager Oliver Glasner confirmed he will be leaving at the end of the season.
Sunderland could climb into the top six with a win, but their French boss said: “When you have a bad period, you always want to react.
“It shows how tough and demanding this league is. They struggled in the FA Cup and they have not been on a good run.
“They have a strong group, well-coached and plenty of experience and they are struggling. A reaction can happen out of anywhere so we don’t have expectations and that is really clear.”
Sunderland have taken points off a host of big guns, including draws with Arsenal, Aston Villa, Manchester City, LIverpool and have won at Chelsea.
Their bold displays have already earned them 30 points – but Le Bris is still refusing to discuss a potential charge for European qualification until safety is assured.
He added: “The target remains the same for us. Data might say something different but we have our own target. We want to reach those 40 points, it’s not done yet.
“If we reach this target, we will set another one straight away but so far, it’s not done. We don’t expect anything from our opponents, we still want to build our season.
“This league is relentless. Even if we showed great consistency against the best teams in the league, we may not have won many points because it’s tough.
“Fine margins are always between wins, draws and defeats so they don’t always tell the full story but the main point is our consistency, building new layers in our game and to develop the small details.”
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