Sunderland not prioritising South American scouting - Kristjaan Speakman

Did recent trip to Uruguay yield any official partnerships for Sunderland?

Kristjaan Speakman says Sunderland are not prioritising South American talent despite a recent official club trip to Uruguay.

A delegation from Sunderland including owners Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Juan Sartori were pictured in Uruguay and they had meetings with high profile clubs such as Nacional and Panarol to discuss potential partnerships.

Sartori has often spoken in the past about wanting closer links between Sunderland and Uruguay, but Speakman insists they are scouring the whole world for talent, and the signings of Jewison Bennette and Abdoullah Ba prove it.

"South America is no different to Germany, Belgium, France or any other area we are currently scouting within,” Speakman said at the Red and White Army meeting. “It is no different to other activities we are doing.

“I understand South America has got more media traction due to our ownership, but as Kyril said at last week’s fans forum, we are looking to utilise all of our contacts and networks in the game to expand our overall network and our understanding of player availability. You have seen this with some of the players the Club has signed.

“There are no official deals or partnerships in place, but we are trying to maintain informal communication with several parties to help us to be first to know when players become available.”

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