Sunderland boss rues failure to land Bournemouth winger

Sheyi Ojo: Tipped to have a good season

Sheyi Ojo: Tipped to have a good season

Sunderland boss Simon Grayson has admitted his disappointment at missing out on bringing Max Gradel to the club.

The Black Cats were trying to take the Ivorian from Bournemouth but he has decided to join French Ligue 1 side Toulouse on a season-long loan.

Grayson, who signed the 29-year-old for Leeds in 2009, thought he had a deal agreed, but Gradel opted to return to France, having previously played for St Etienne.

“We spoke to Max and he eventually decided to go back to France,” the boss said after his side kept their unbeaten start to the season going with a 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday in the Sky Bet Championship.

“We had agreed something with Bournemouth and ultimately he is a good player that I wanted to bring to the club.

“It shows you where we are as a club with the players that we are looking at.

“That would have been a big signing for us if we had managed to do it, but he just felt his family wanted to go back to France and that was a disappointment for us, but that is part and parcel of the transfer window.”

Meanwhile, young striker Josh Maja will be out for around a month after having knee surgery.

Maja scored four times in six pre-season friendlies but suffered an injury at Bradford and a specialist has decided to put him under the knife.

Grayson added: “He had the operation on his knee on Tuesday morning so he will probably be out for a month.

“They found a problem with his knee so they operated.”