Sunderland, Burnley and Brentford Rejected as Club Vows to Keep €50M Asset

Things have become more complicated for the Black Cats regarding their attacking targets.

IMAGO / Panoramic by PsnewZ

Sunderland are being one of the English teams that are protagonists of the summer transfer window, as we expected.

Since the Black Cats achieved promotion to the Premier League, we knew that many rumors of possible signings would emerge.

And it is really necessary for the Lads to assemble a balanced squad for the 2025-26 season, to be competitive in the top category of English football from the first moment.

However, not all the signings that Sunderland intend to make are simple.

Sunderland, Burnley and Brentford suffer blow over target Matthis Abline

According to information from Mohamed Toubache-Ter (h/t Yahoo Sports), Nantes are not willing to let go of Matthis Abline, a 22-year-old French forward who has awakened the interest of Sunderland, Burnley, and Brentford.

Salut,

Du côté de Nantes, le board nantais n’est pas dans la posture.

Nantes estime ne pas avoir fait un gros investissement sur Abline pour le laisser partir cet été !
Par conséquent, pas de débat pour eux.
Abline restera à Nantes.

À suivre, #FCNantes https://t.co/3vkI2ZLirA

— Mohamed TOUBACHE-TER (@MohamedTERParis) June 16, 2025

In fact, Nantes had already rejected an offer, in this case coming from Olympique Marseille, for about €15 million according to L'Equipe.

Also, the Ligue 1 side would have valued their player at no less than €50 million, a figure very superior to Abline's estimated market value (€18 million, according to Transfermarkt).

Nantes' president, Waldemar Kita, has since given a warning to OM that they would have to pay €50m to sign Abline.

Luke Entwistle, GFFN

Throughout his career, Abline registers 32 goals and 11 assists, considering all divisions and teams in which he has played.

The young French forward is without doubt one of the biggest offensive prospects in his country, and it would be a statement signing if a recently promoted team in England were to sign him, once again exposing the significant difference between the Premier League and other championships in Europe.

Another forward who has been linked to Sunderland is Vladyslav Vanat, a 23-year-old striker from Dynamo Kyiv who also interests Leeds United and Fulham.

We'll see if the Lads' board sets their sights on the Ukrainian, considering that Abline will be a much complicated target.