Sunderland star 'very happy' at club amid reports of €5m interest from La Liga

One of Sunderland's top youngsters is already attracting interest from a top club in Spain, but he seems in no rush to move on.

Jewison Bennette says he is ‘very happy’ at Sunderland amid reports that La Liga side Valencia are hoping to take him to Spain.

The 18-year-old Costa Rican has made his presence felt at Sunderland since arriving in a £1million deal from Herediano in August.

He has now jetted off to the World Cup, where he will likely start matches for Costa Rica.

Reports in Spain last week claimed Bennette had caught the eye of Valencia, who are willing to pay €5million to capture the youngster. However, he says he is very happy at Sunderland and settling in nicely.

"I'm very happy," Bennette told safc.com. "The players, the area, the people are very friendly. I think that's a very important factor for settling into a new country.

"To be honest, it's not that different. What is different is the culture and having to adapt to this. You arrive in a new place, you don't know many people.

"The people are very nice, friendly and they are always happy to help you to improve every day.

“That was one of the things that struck me most about this team. I have friendly team-mates and they're very good people. They help you both on and off the pitch, they give you advice and that's essential for growing as a footballer.

"I'm working every day to be ready when the manager needs me, to try and earn a place in the team and from there to continue to improve to be ready for everything that's to come.

"I feel that we have a very good team which is good enough to fight and be up there in the league. We are going to work hard for every game to be able to win as many matches as we can to try and get close to the top of the league."