Sunderland have just completed their second signing in 24 hours. After completing the signing of Jeremain Lens from Dynamo Kiev last night, Younes Kaboul has now signed from Tottenham for an undisclosed fee. He passed his medical earlier and has signed a four year deal.
Central defender Kaboul had only one year left on his contract at Tottenham, and after falling out of favour, Tottenham decided to make him available for transfer. After a deal to bring Belgian international Nicolas Lombaerts broke down, Kaboul was seen as the alternative and Sunderland have swooped quickly to get their man.
Having signed Kaboul said “I’m delighted to be a Sunderland player and it’s an honour to join this club.” Head coach Dick Advocaat said “He is a very experienced player, which is what we need. He has shown that in his time at Spurs and he will be a very good addition to our squad.”
His signing for Sunderland brings about a change of heart from the player whose agent once said when the club were linked with him several years ago “Younes would not join Sunderland – even if there was an earthquake, we’ve much more interesting options. No disrespect, but playing at Sunderland would not help his international career.” With regards to these comments, good performances from the player will surely help erase any bad memories left in Sunderland supporter’s minds.
Kaboul began his career at Auxerre before signing for Tottenham for fee of around £8 million. Even though he was a fan favourite, and picking up a League Cup Winners medal, Kaboul’s time at White Hart Lane lasted only one season. In August 2008 he signed for Portsmouth for around £6 million.
After 50 appearances and five goals, Kaboul left Portsmouth to rejoin Tottenham in January 2010 for a reported fee of £9.5 million. Tottenham manager at the time Harry Redknapp said that Kaboul was “much improved” since his first spell at the club and described him as a “late developer”.
Injuries and being out of favour at times have restricted Kaboul to just 94 appearances in five and half years during his second spell, scoring four goals. Kaboul is also a French international and has played 5 times for them scoring once. However his last appearance for France came in the 2011-12 season.
Sunderland and their fans will be hoping that their new signing can put any injury problems he may of had behind him now and be that “late developer” that Harry Redknapp spoke about over five years ago. At 29 Kaboul still has plenty of time on his side and brings to Sunderland a wealth of experience of Premier League and European football.
Kaboul’s signing now makes it four signings for Sunderland this summer following Jeremain Lens, Sebastian Coates from Liverpool and Adam Matthews from Celtic. Dick Advocaat has stated several times that five or six players will be needed to be signed this summer. With four already in, who’s next?
Main Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images
