Steve Bruce continued his reinforcement of the Sunderland back-four by signing up defender Marcos Angeleri from Estudiantes on a three year deal. The 27-year-old Argentine arrives at the Stadium of Light for an undisclosed fee, where his main position will be right-back. Though he has also been employed in his native country as sweeper on occasion, his height 5 ft 11 in – combined with Bruce’s other acquisitions, suggests, unless of defensive emergencies, he will not be lining up centrally.
Angeleri is very much an attacking full-back, and his power and pace down the right flank should be a feature of Sunderland’s play once he settles properly…
On completion of the deal, Bruce enthused
Opinion…
Mark
“Bruce has bolstered his defensive options with the signings of Bramble, Onuoha, Mensah and Angeleri and we could see improved clean sheet returns as a result. Seven cleanies last term was a woeful return and we will need to see evidence of the potential of 12+ shutouts before any of their back four begin to look tempting.
That leaves Angeleri out in the cold then, particulary with Al-Muhammadi an option at the same price in the FPL. As mentioned in our Scout Report of the Egyptian, he has the potential to be handed a midfield role by Bruce and has the delivery to provide Bent with ammunition and gather assists. Al-Muhammadi would have to find himself threatened by rotation before Fantasy Managers are likely to come sniffing around the talents of Angeleri .”
“Marcos is a strong, powerful defender and will add depth to the squad. He is also very keen to get forward from that position so that adds an extra dimension to the side. He has been one of the best right full-backs in South America in recent years and has really impressed us when we’ve watched him.”
The Statistics
Up until now, Angeleri has been a one-club man. Making his debut in 2002, he has played the past seven seasons for Estudiantes, turning out 184 times and scoring 2 goals. He has also played three times for Argentina, and could count himself unfortunate not to have been included in the recent World Cup squad under Diego Maradona, given the team’s subsequent defensive woes.
The Prospects
With seven signings so far this summer, Steve Bruce looks to have added more strength in depth to his squad, and the Black Cats boss will be looking to improve on last season’s thirteenth-place finish. In reflection, Sunderland’s season could have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for the finishing of Darren Bent, who scored exactly half (24) of the club’s league goals.
At the other end of the pitch, Sunderland had the joint third-worst defence in last season’s Premier League; just 7 times they managed to stop opponents from scoring, with a mere 2 of those chalked up away from home. With Alan Hutton moving back to Spurs after his loan spell ended and Phil Bardsley clearly not to Steve Bruce’s liking, it’s plain to see Sunderland need a first-choice right-back.
In addition to Angeleri, Bruce has brought in Ahmed Al-Muhammadi to Wearside, but although he is more than capable of also playing in defence, the Egyptian increasingly seems more likely to be fielded as a right-winger, as illustrated most recently in last weekend’s victory at Leicester. Today Bruce also completed the signing of Nedum Onuoha from Man City and he will likely be Angeleri’s main competition for a starting role.
In terms of Fantasy Premier League (FPL), the problem for Angeleri, Onuoha or any other Black Cats defender is presence of Al-Muhammadi as a Fantasy prospect. Al-Muhammadi is also listed as a defender, and, as an out-of-position player, would be far and away the best option to have from the list of Sunderland defenders, so long as Bruce gives him regular pitch time. However, if the Egyptian struggles, Angeleri, at 4.5, is reasonably priced by FPL and is definitely worth monitoring if during kind fixture spells for Sunderland if his attacking instincts come to the fore.