El Hadji Diouf completes £2.5 million move to Sunderland
Monday, 28 Jul 2008 21:13
Diouf came highly recommended from Sunderland coach Ricky Sbragia
Sunderland have completed the signing of El Hadji Diouf from Bolton for a fee believed to be around £2.5 million.
The 27-year-old has signed a four-year deal at the Stadium of Light after spending four seasons at the Reebok.
"El Hadji is a great signing for us and we're thrilled to get him in," manager Roy Keane told the club's official website.
"He has bags of Premier League and international experience, which is exactly what we've been targeting this summer."
Keane also revealed that despite Diouf being something of a controversial figure, he came highly recommended by Sunderland coach Ricky Sbragia, who had worked with the Senegal international at Bolton.
"El Hadji has always been the kind of player opposition teams and supporters love to hate, a thorn in the side, and that's why we're delighted to now have him in our squad," Keane revealed.
"Our coach, Ricky Sbragia, has also worked very closely with him and speaks extremely highly of him, so we're looking forward to working with El Hadji, I think he's a signing that will excite our supporters."
Diouf is Sunderland's fifth signing of the summer, following Teemu Tainio, Nick Colgan, David Meyler and Pascal Chimbonda, who all joined the club last week.