Sunderland have denied that they're about to pip Celtic to the appointment of John Park, as was widely reported yesterday.

It was believed that the Black Cats were close to offering Park a role as director of football, beating Celtic to his appointment. Neil Lennon was thought to have targeted the former talent spotter as his head of recruitment, but been beaten to the punch by the Black Cats.

The Sunderland Echo reports that there's no deal in place for Park, with his name having only been mentioned as a possible director of football by a potential new investor.

That investor is not close to an agreement and the talk of Park joining is nothing but speculation at this stage. Whilst the Black Cats will be welcoming new money on board, the investor suggesting Park is not thought to be a front runner.

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John Park was head of recruitment at Celtic for nine years and is credited with spotting Virgil Van Dijk and Victor Wanyama to name but two. He's most recent been working for Maccabi Haifa and Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Verdict

It seems that the media have got hold of a story and taken more from it than was actually there. John Park might be holding out on Celtic, his representatives might be looking for more money or he might be assessing his options.

It doesn't appear that Celtic have been beaten to his signature by Sunderland, but the fact remains he hasn't gone back to Parkhead. Lennon can't blame Sunderland for that anymore.