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There was a growing expectations that the 22-year-old defender would be moving to Sunderland on a season-long loan deal, but it now appears that the Liverpool central defender is not interested in a move to Wearside. The struggling Premier League side snared Fabio Borini yesterday, but appear to have been unable to follow that up with a second Liverpool player this summer.
The Daily Express report that Ilori wanted assurances over regular football, an understandable concern for a player needing games to develop, but Ilori's father spoke of a different reason for the move breaking down. According to papa Ilori, Sunderland is "a cold city," and that rather than playing time guarantees is why there is no deal to be had for Sunderland. That makes complete sense as Liverpool is on the sunny Algarve and not firmly in the North of England itself.
There is always a chance the deal could be resurrected, but at this stage, Ilori looks as though he won't be moving to Sunderland for his development. And at this late stage, it seems unlikely that any other team will swoop in to offer Ilori the minutes he's looking for. Maybe Ilori will take a few hours to reconsider and in the end decide what it took Fabio Borini a year to, though, because for the Portuguese youth international remaining on Merseyside seems unlikely yield the minutes he requires at this point in his career.
