Moyes confirms club have rejected £7m Van Aanholt bid

Matt Stead

Sunderland boss David Moyes has confirmed that the club has rejected a bid from Crystal Palace for full-back Patrick van Aanholt.

Palace are understood to have tabled an offer in the region of £7million for the Dutchman, who worked with manager Sam Allardyce during his time on Wearside last season.

However, the Black Cats are in no mood to do business.

Asked if a bid had been turned down, Moyes replied: “Yes, that’s correct.

“We have actually had a few bids for quite a lot of our players because we have got some good players here and maybe people think we could be easy pickings. But we are not.

“I want to keep all my good players, I want to keep them here. I want to try to build, I want us to add to our group rather than lose players.”

Asked further if, like the answer West Ham received in their pursuit of striker Jermain Defoe, the refusal was permanent, Moyes added: “It’s a permanent ‘no’ because we want to keep him.

“He’s a really important player for us. He’s got an awful lot going for him – he’s still young yet, he has got a lot to learn, but he’s done very well. He’s earned us points by his goals and his assists.”