10 Players You Didn't Know Sunderland Almost Signed

10. Dorin Goian

Many of you might remember this Romanian centre-half from his fine showing in the Euro 2008 tournament, when his country narrowly missed out on qualifying from the so-called 'Group of Death'. Having kept a clean sheet against the French and stifled the Italians to a goal apiece, a collection of Premier League sides took notice of his stellar performances, with Bolton and West Brom clamouring for his signature. However, it was Sunderland and Dynamo Kiev who arose from as leading contenders to land the 27 year old defender, with Steaua Bucharest chairman Gigi Becali indicating that the North-East side were on the cusp of sealing the deal. The Romanian himself was quoted as being 'determined' to quit the club for the Black Cats.

''He would love to play for Sunderland. He knows all about Roy Keane from his playing days and has great respect for him, and he admires the way he has taken to management at Sunderland. Dorin is desperate for the deal to go through - he really hopes Sunderland and Steau can reach an agreement.'' - Agent Peter Harrison, July 2008.

Alas, Goian never did put to pen on a deal at the Stadium of Light, with the North-East side accused of overcomplicating the deal to the point of killing the transfer.

''People at Sunderland are not the ones to trust. I think that's why Goian's transfer didn't go through. We too had talks with them for our Polish player, Lewandowski, but they wanted to pay the fee in 4-5 years.'' - Steau manager Mircea Lucescu.