One-time Sunderland defender Sebastian Coates has secured a move to Uruguayan side Nacional, bringing to an end his time in Europe.
The 33-year-old centre-back cost the Black Cats £2 million in 2015, joining from Liverpool following a dismal couple of seasons at Anfield. Initially, he joined on loan despite getting just two minutes at the 2014 World Cup before making the switch permanent a season later.
The defender has now returned to the team he represented before moving to Europe, a move he hinted at in Uruguayan press a couple of weeks ago.
“I’m always in contact with Nacional and, in addition, I have a friend like Mauricio (Pereyra) who is playing there,” he said recently. “It’s not because they contacted me out of interest or not. I have one more year on my contract, and the idea is to respect it.”
That contract, with Sporting Lisbon, was, in fact, a one-year option left on the deal that took him away from the Stadium of Light for a rumoured €5 million (£4.2 million). That option was not taken up, and he returned the the club with which he won two Primera Divisions, in 2009 and 2011.
His permanent move to Wearside was not a happy one. He spent just six months with the club, appearing 13 times and scoring an own goal as they were routed 6-2 by Everton. He was one of the first casualties of Sam Allardyce’s rein, loaned out in order to balance the books. After two seasons as a loan player for Sporting, he sealed the permanent deal to give David Moyes funds to spend in his futile attempt to stay in the Premier League.
However, he was a huge success in Portugal, appearing 216 times in the top flight for Sporting CP, winning two league titles. He is now returning home to play out the rest of his career in his homeland.
Writer’s View
As Sunderland look up the Championship table, dreaming of a return to the Premier League, they’ll also remember the excess and overspending of their last time there. Coates, a top defender when fit and firing, was an example of them trying to cling onto the top flight at the time.
His sale was one of the first that came to balance the books but by no means the last. Neither Sunderland nor Liverpool fans will be particularly overjoyed to hear the defender’s name, even if it is a nice story, as he looks to end his career with the club that made him.
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