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Sbragia talks down Diouf & Chimbonda exit
Sunderland, 12:14, January 8, 2009 ,
Black Cats boss Ricky Sbragia has played down talk that both Pascal Chimbonda and El Hadji Diouf will leave the club in January.
Both players appears to be unsettled at the Stadium of Light and have been heavily linked with moves away from the club, with Diouf confirming both Blackburn and Wigan have made a move for his signature.
Chimbonda had also been in line for a transfer to French club Lyon but the player's agent has since said that the deal between the two clubs was 'dead'.
Sbragia has now said that both players were part of his plans for the future and that neither would be leaving unless a significant offer was lodged.
"I would want to keep Pascal and I would want to keep Dioufy because if you let one of your squad players go, you have to get another one in and that's sometimes not easy, especially at this stage of the season," Sbragia told the Sunderland Echo.
"Pascal and Dioufy have been good in training this week.
"Dioufy has been in training on his own on his day off. He's been making sure the sports science lads have been looking after him and he's trained well after that. That's all good.
"I think it's like any player - if you're playing games you're happy, if you're not playing it's a problem - but we want them both to stay and that's our intention.
"I know there'll be a lot of interest in Dioufy because he's a good player, but I've always said that I've got a squad of 20 or so players that I'm looking to keep at the club and he's one of them."