SUNDERLAND’s Alfred N’Diaye was determined not to miss out on a “dream” move to the Premier League, even if it meant waiting five months for it to come about.

Manager Martin O’Neill first watched the combative midfielder in a Europa League qualifier in August. But with the transfer window about to close and Bursaspor reluctant to sell, N’Diaye was made to sweat on joining what he believes is “the best league in the world”.

Fortunately for the 22-year-old Parisian, O’Neill continued to monitor the progress of a player he has since admitted did not exactly win him over at first sight, and a near-£4m transfer was completed this month.

N’Diaye has revealed he had to dig his heels in a little to make Bursaspor reluctantly accept Sunderland’s offer.

“Sunderland were interested in me in August but it was maybe the 27th or 28th and my club in Turkey were playing in the Europa League against Twente (in a qualifying game for the group stages) so they didn’t want to sell me,” N’Diaye recalled. “It wasn’t possible at that time.

“After that Sunderland watched me for another four or five months playing in Turkey and came back in for me in January. Still Bursaspor didn’t want to sell me but I was determined to go this time. To play in England was my dream.”

It reflects well on N’Diaye that he did not take the route some want-away players do when told to honour their contract, and force their hand with some lacklustre performances. Instead, hoping Sunderland would keep an eye on him, the former France Under-21 captain resolved to earn his move with the quality of his performances in Turkey.

“When Bursaspor said I couldn’t go (in August) I wasn’t happy,” he said.

“But in my head I decided I’d try to play really well for six months, and not think about it. It’s not good for me and for my team to be thinking about going somewhere else, but I decided I would concentrate on playing as well as I could in Turkey for six months, giving 100%. I played well and now I’ve come here I’m happy.”

Meanwhile, O’Neill is hopeful when Sunderland play their next game, at home to Swansea City on Tuesday, they will do so fresh and full of confidence.

Like the Swans, the Black Cats have a weekend off courtesy of being knocked out of the FA Cup. And while they would probably prefer to build on impressive Premier League wins against West Ham United and Wigan Athletic, the break should at least allow injured players extra recovery time. “Hopefully we’ll have that bit of extra freshness ahead of Tuesday’s game,” O’Neill told the club’s official website.

“It is as much about the injured players as anything else – Carlos Cuellar, Danny Rose and Lee Cattermole are all not that far away from being fit again.

“Having won the game last Saturday (at Wigan), it would have been nice to be involved in the Cup again with a chance to play Everton.”

O’Neill thinks his side will go into the match believing they can beat anyone in the world.

“We’ve won five from the last eight in the Premier League which is very, very important for us,” said a manager who will be keeping an eye on Aiden McGeady’s situation after it emerged the former Celtic winger is unlikely to sign a new Spartak Moscow contract.

“The wins naturally were necessary. You win a couple of games in this league and you feel you can beat Real Madrid and Barcelona combined and after a couple of defeats you wonder where the next point is coming from.

“Our form has been very good in recent weeks and we’ve been able to add important wins to that.”