His mission was to check on four or five rising A-League talents during a whirlwind trip down under, with Triantis among them.

However, when the Northern Irishman rocked up to Hindmarsh Stadium to watch eventual champions Central Coast thrash Adelaide United 4-1 in their final game of the regular season, it was the Mariners’ domineering young centre-back who caught his eye, easily eclipsing any other intended targets.

Harvey, with the aid of Australian player agent Tony Rallis, wasted no time in tracking down the tall, silky stopper’s representative, leading Sydney-based player manager Buddy Farah, to set in motion a dream move for the rookie.

Triantis was on a fast track to becoming, you might say, the Black Cats’ ‘accidental’ signing.

Sunderland weren’t Triantis’ only suitors, by any means, but the club offered a career path, sales pitch and personal touch the others couldn’t match.

“There is no doubt that Nectar has a big future ahead, and I’m sure the name Triantis will be spoken about for years to come,” said former NSL player Farah.

“He deserves this move and despite a number of other serious options this ticked a lot of boxes. 

“Sunderland has been very professional in the process and have a very good head coach in Tony Mowbray who ironically played as a centre back.”

There was keen interest from a number of clubs for the defender who prior to signing for Central Coast had just five minutes of senior action at Western Sydney Wanderers under his belt.

That was before being fashioned into a thing of beauty by Mariners’ master talent spotter, coach Nick Montgomery.

Leaders of the pack were Premier League Crystal Palace, but their plan to initially loan Triantis proved less appealing than Sunderland’s impromptu bid.

There were also approaches from the Bundesliga, Stoke City and clubs in Denmark, Greece and Norway.

But the project at the Stadium of Light, as elucidated during a Zoom chat between Triantis, Farah, Harvey and Mowbray, offered the player the chance to hit the ground running as a potential starter in the English Championship for a club which made the promotion playoffs this season.

He also perfectly fit the Sunderland model : players under the age of 22, who can be acquired cheaply - $500,000 in this case - and honed into future stars.

Crystal Palace were the first to make an approach and there were Zoom discussions with their football director Dougie Freeman.

But those conversations centered around loaning out Triantis, who instead was offered a first team pathway by the Wearsiders.

Tipped as a Socceroo in the making by Montgomery, who was also an advocate of the move to the north east, Triantis will travel to Sunderland to complete the formalities of a medical once he concludes his current stint with the Olyroos, who are in France competing in the Maurice Revello Tournament.