Sunderland interested in Serb star Nemanja Matic

Jul 5 2009 by Steve Brown, Sunday Sun

SUNDERLAND will attempt to hijack Middlesbrough’s lingering interest in Serb starlet Nemanja Matic

But the Wear-Tees rivals face competition from CSKA Moscow, Genoa, Udinese and Tottenham for the FC Kosice midfielder.

Matic spent a week on trial at the Riverside last December, a spell cut short by his surprise call-up to the senior Serbian squad.

He subsequently made his full international debut in a friendly against Poland, the first of two caps.

The 20-year-old returned to Serbia’s Under-21 side for the recent European Champion- ships and despite breaking a bone in his foot during a goalless draw against Italy, remains highly sought after at around £1.5 million.

Allen Bula, the club’s head of football development, said: “Kosice have received offers from CSKA Moscow, Genoa and Udinese, but no offer has been accepted yet.

“There are also English clubs which have contacted us, and I will have meetings with them this week.

“We have agreed with Matic that, although we do not want to lose him, we will agree a transfer soon – before we play in the UEFA Europa League – so he is not cup-tied.

“We always knew this player would become a star player in Europe.

“Kosice’s player development programme has shown again that players, when given the right time-frame, will become star players like Nemanja.”