BENARBIA UNLIKELY TO GAIN BLACK CAT DEAL

The 32-year-old Paris Saint Germain playmaker spent three days on trial with Peter Reid's men last week and impressed sufficiently enough for contract talks to commence.

However, much like his compatriot Bernard Lama - whose demands scuppered a move to the Stadium of Light last week, Benarbia's personal terms seem to be unacceptable to the Black Cats.

The main stumbling block is that the Algerian international is demanding a three-year contract which Reid is not happy with, and is unlikely to relent.

If Benarbia was to reconsider his terms then he may still have a chance of joining Sunderland, but unless he does then the North East club will turn their attentions elsewhere.

Sunderland saw Benarbia as a possible replacement for Don Hutchison, who moved to West Ham last month, but now Reid may well decide to see how his current squad copes with the loss of the Scottish international before making a move into the transfer market.