Sunderland AFC have today announced the signing of Lorik Cana on a four year contract, the highly rated 25 year old Albanian International was signed from French side Olympique de Marseille for around 5 Million pounds.
Cana has been Marseille captain since 2007, Sunderland Manager Steve Bruce made commented on the capture, saying "He brings with him a tremendous amount of experience both at club level and internationally and is a great addition to our squad.
To captain a side of Marseille's stature says a lot about the player and his character, and I'm sure he'll go on to be a fantastic signing for Sunderland."
Mean while midfielder Dean Whitehead has signed for Stoke City, for 3 million pounds which could rise to 5 million.
Sunderland signed Whitehead on a free transfer from Oxford United in 2004 and become a fundamental player in Sunderland first team.
He was named Sunderland's players player award for the 2004-05 Championship season, although Whitehead's primary roll is that of a midfielder he has played right across both the midfield and defence spending sometime at the right back position.