Sunderland 'beat array of rivals' to cut-price Australian youngster

Sunderland are understood to have ‘beaten an array of rivals’ to sign Australian defender Nectarios Triantis from Central Coast Mariners.

An exclusive report from beIN Sports claims the 20-year-old will join the Black Cats this summer for a fee of $500,000 Australian, which is around £265,000.

Triantis is a key part of the Australian Under-20 team, although he is yet to make his debut as a full international. However, that looks inevitable after a hugely impressive breakout season in the A-League.

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He played 24 times this season for the Mariners, and quickly caught the eye with an exceptional passing range. That led to ‘intense competition’ for his signature from Europe, but Sunderland have seemingly won the race.

Despite an apparent imminent move to Sunderland, though, Triantis is not quite finished with the Mariners. He will play his final game for them against Melbourne City in the Grand Final on Saturday – a match which may now attract a host of interested viewers from Wearside.

“I’m not going to confirm or deny any rumours at the moment,” Mariners owner Richard Pell said. “I just want to let the players play their game.

“Like every off-season they’ll be players coming in and players going out, that we guarantee. We’ll make some comments post the grand final.”

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