Diouf will bring experience and some controversy

SUNDERLAND WILL today announce the signing of El-Hadj Diouf from Bolton Wanderers for a fee that will be described as "undisclosed" but which is thought to be in the region of €4.4 million. It was not confirmed that Diouf had joined in time to travel to Cork for tonight's pre-season friendly at Cobh Ramblers.

Diouf (27), has spent four seasons at Bolton after joining from Liverpool, but declared his intention of leaving Gary Megson's team at the end of last season.

With Pascal Chimbonda having followed Teemu Tainio north from Tottenham to Sunderland, Diouf will become Roy Keane's third signing in a week, and there is the prospect of more to follow as Wearside gathers a sense of momentum and anticipation about the new season.

Chimbonda completed his transfer from White Hart Lane on Saturday night and should feature at Cobh. At 29, Chimbonda, like Diouf, has the necessary Premier League experience Keane said was required if Sunderland are to make progress from last season, which at times was anxious.

"Pascal is one of those rare players who can play anywhere across the back line and that will be invaluable to us," Keane said, "so naturally we're very pleased to secure his services. He has a lot of Premier League experience which can only be a plus for us, and he'll give us more options at the back, creating more competition for places there. So all-in-all it's a fantastic signing for us."

Chimbonda's defensive colleague at Spurs, Younes Kaboul, may yet join him on Wearside despite the intervention of Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp last Thursday. Redknapp is enthusiastically chasing Kaboul but, unlike Sunderland, Portsmouth have not agreed a fee for the centre-half and may be unable to do so.

Steed Malbranque, the fourth of the Tottenham players for whom Sunderland agreed a €29 million fee 10 days ago, is another undecided about his future, but Sunderland anticipate an answer from both Kaboul and Malbranque within the next 24 hours.

With bids on the table for other players in their positions, Sunderland are relaxed about Kaboul and Malbranque and can now be expected to concentrate on recruiting a new centre forward. With Kenwyne Jones out of the first two months of the season, according to Keane, there is a need to buy and there remains interest in Tottenham's Darren Bent.

Diouf, who first came to England as a signing made by Gerard Houllier following the World Cup in Korea and Japan, will be deemed a controversial signing in some quarters due to his past, which includes fines for spitting during games at opponents and some opposing fans. But his effectiveness as a dangerous attacker is undisputed by even the most ardent of his critics.

In Diouf and Chimbonda, Keane has got seasoned Premier League players of the calibre he insisted Sunderland had to get, even if their volatility could on occasion test the young manager.