Defender blames 'unhappy' Sunderland experience for delusions of grandeur

Jason Denayer has confirmed what his Sunderland performances always said about him, by essentially saying he thought he was too good for the club.

Denayer was part of the notoriously gutless Sunderland team led by the even more gutless David Moyes that was relegated from the Premier League in 2017.

He has since been playing for Lyon in Ligue 1 until his contract came to an end last summer. Lyon wanted to retain him and Wolves were very interested in signing him. However, expecting interest from a top club that, naturally, never materialised, Denayer turned both down – and he has now basically blamed Sunderland for his delusions of grandeur.

“When I was still playing at Manchester City, the club loaned me out to Sunderland,” Denayer told Het Nieuwsblad. “I made that transfer because the club asked me to.

“We were relegated from the Premier League, we played all the time not to lose. I became very unhappy with that. I learned a lesson from it.

“It’s not that I felt too good for the clubs that wanted me, but they weren’t teams that were aiming for a European ticket. And I absolutely want to play to win trophies.”

Turning down a move to a Premier League club and turning down a contract extension with Lyon because he was expecting better offers appears to have backfired on Denayer, who has signed a deal with Dubai club Al-Shabab.

He, though, says he does not see it as something that will impact his career.

“I’m 27 and I have a one-year contract in Dubai,” he said. “What’s the problem? There are so many players who made such a transfer and came back afterwards and performed well in Europe.”