Sunderland manager Alex Neil has shared an update regarding the Wearside club’s current situation regarding their efforts in the transfer market.
What’s the latest?
Speaking on the matter (via Chronicle Live), Neil had this to say on how things currently stand and what his squad could look like by the end of the summer transfer window.
“We’re going to go into these first few games quite light in some areas. It’s not through a lack of effort behind the scenes, it’s because the teams we are dealing with are reluctant to let their players out at the moment and we have to bide our time.
“But we’re still players light, so the likelihood is that by the end of the window the squad will look different to how it looks at the moment. You don’t get handed your squad and told that that’s your squad for the remainder of the season, because if that was the case you could get a lot of work in early doors.”
After finally making their way out of League One, the Black Cats have secured deals for the likes of Daniel Ballard, Ellis Simms and Aji Alese among others.
They have also seen players such as Will Grigg, Aidan McGeady and Lee Burge wave goodbye to the club on free transfers.
Sunderland’s first game of the new season saw them draw 1-1 against Coventry City after Jack Clarke’s 12th-minute opener was cancelled out by an 84th-minute equaliser from Viktor Gyokeres.
Do Sunderland need to sign more players?
Yes
No
Now that Neil has revealed that not only are the club trying to get more players through the door, but players that their clubs don’t want to see leave, this should be an exciting thing for Sunderland fans to hear regarding the level of quality that the Black Cats’ apparent targets have.
Also, with the Sunderland boss mentioning how different the squad will look by the time the window closes, this should fill a lot of fans with confidence that more players will arrive before September 1st.
With the club already strengthening their defence and attack, as well as already having a healthy number of midfield options, it will be interesting to see what sort of players do make the move to the Stadium of Light between now and the end of the transfer window.
