Sunderland want compo date for Bellion

Sunderland have asked for a tribunal date to determine what compensation they will receive from Premiership champions Manchester United for David Bellion.

The 20-year-old Frenchman signed a four-year deal at Old Trafford yesterday after completing a medical as Alex Ferguson finally got his hands on a player he had been tracking for months.

Bellion was out of contract at the Stadium of Light, but because he is under the age of 23, the Black Cats are entitled to compensation.

“The club has made formal application to the Football League to request a date for a tribunal hearing to discuss compensation with regard to David Bellion’s transfer to Manchester United, which was confirmed yesterday,” a spokesman said.

Manager Mick McCarthy returned for pre-season training today with the bulk of his squad still intact despite concerted efforts to trim the playing staff and the wage bill amid a cash crisis.

Bellion is one of only a handful of players to have moved on, and most of them were on the fringes of the first team anyway.

McCarthy is desperate to establish a modest transfer kitty, and to formulate a better idea of who he will still have at his disposal when the Division One campaign kicks off at Nottingham Forest on August 9.

Any cash he can rake in from United would help, although Bellion’s lack of football during his time on Wearside may not work in the favour of his former employers.

The youngster, who arrived at the club in August 2001, started just eight games in his two seasons at the Stadium of Light and made 16 further appearances as a substitute, scoring a single goal.

His last start came in the 1-0 home defeat by derby rivals Newcastle on April 26, some three months after Ferguson had failed in his transfer window bid to lure him across the Pennines.