Poyet closing in on Vergini

Sunderland boss Gus Poyet has confirmed his club are close to making Estudiantes defender Santiago Vergini their second signing of the January transfer window.Having already landed Fiorentina full-back Marcos Alonso, Poyet is now hopeful the Barclays Premier League strugglers will seal the deal for Argentinian Vergini over the weekend.Poyet said: "Normally I don't comment but there have been so many comments from the other side of the Atlantic that they have put me in the position where I have to say we are interested."I thought we were very close yesterday but not close enough."He is a central defender who has been playing at the top level for a few years and he has had a chance to play with the Argentina national team. He's big, so he's good for England, he reads the game well and he is a good defender. Let's hope he can adapt quickly if we get him."Poyet refused to comment on other specific transfer rumours but did confirm out-of-favour midfielder Cabral has joined Italian side Genoa on loan until the end of the season.The Cape Verde international was signed by Poyet's predecessor Paolo Di Canio on a free transfer from Basel in the summer and impressed on his debut against Fulham, but quickly fell out of favour.Poyet added: "That is complete and Cabral is going to be in Genoa from today."It was difficult for him to play - sometimes there is not a clear reason but there are other players in his position and we were looking for special things and he didn't work, for me at least."Now he's got a very good opportunity to play in Italy with a very good club and I hope everything goes well for him."

Source: PA