Allardyce frustrated by Santon collapse

Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce might be continuously linked with the vacant England job, but he is more annoyed that he was unable to complete the signing of Inter Milan full-back Davide Santon.

It had been widely reported that the deal was done to bring the defender to the Stadium of Light before the club confirmed it was off, much to Allardyce’s disappointment.

“There’s no doubt that the one big thing I have to cover is striving hard every single day on the phone with all our recruitment people to find the right deal for the right player,” Allardyce told the Sunderland Echo.

“It was a huge disappointment for me that I was not able to clinch the Davide Santon deal, just a couple of days ago.

“We want to improve the squad with two, three or four players as quickly as we possibly can.”

Allardyce said the busy transfer period made it tricky to identify and sign players with so much competition.

Santon himself is now linked with a move to Crystal Palace.

“It’s been a huge demand trying to find those players, but we’ll continue that until we’re successful.

“Hopefully fans will be a little bit patient.

“I have to admit myself that my patience is wearing thin, but we have to keep trying to bring in those three or four players as quickly as possible.”