Things have gone exceptionally quiet on Wearside of late, worryingly quiet if weâre being honest. Sure, it would be rather remiss and foolhardy to mistake the radio silence for a lack of effort on the clubâs part in the transfer market but the lack of progress since the window opened is proving to be more than a tad concerning. Black Cats boss Gus Poyet has previously made no secret of the fact he wishes to have his squad more or less complete in time for the clubâs pre-season training sojourn to Portugal, a trip that is now a little over three weeks away. Ashley Williamsâ agent pulled off a fantastic piece of business for his client, panicking his parent club into offering the contract the Swansea skipper wanted to remain at the Liberty Stadium, whilst seemingly using Sunderland as bait. The whole saga will come as a bitter blow to the Black Cats, who were hoping to make something of a statement of intent with the addition of Williams to their aging central defence. It is now expected that sporting director Lee Congerton will look to up his interest in Chelseaâs France Under-21 international Kurt Zouma, 19, a £12million signing for the London club earlier this year who went on to spend the rest of the season back with Saint-Etienne. Congertonâs Chelsea connections could very well prove to be invaluable in this potential deal. Of course, many fans will not look too favourably on Sunderlandâs use of the loan system which many deem to be a fruitless exercise, pointing to the huge gaps in the squad which such influential players such as Fabio Borini, Marcos Alonso and Ki Sung-yeung have left having such an impact on Wearside last term and that the club are yet to replace. Whilst there very well may be an argument to be had here, the fact that the club could very well bring all three of that particular trio back to the Stadium of Light on more permanent deals pretty much provides the counter-argument in itself. Previously Sunderland had brought players into the fold who they had little to no chance of securing on a permanent transfer. Danny Rose was a particularly good example of this approach, with Danny Welbeck and Jonny Evans also falling into this bracket in recent years. Whilst the incomings at the Stadium of Light have dried up, reports of a number of departures have been on the rise. Flop Danny Graham looks set to join Middlesbrough for a paltry £1m, a fraction of the £6m Sunderland flushed down the toilet for his âservicesâ eighteen months ago. In fact, itâs remarkable the club are to recoup any of their outlay for the forward, who looked more out of his comfort zone on Wearside than a Newcastle fan on Countdown. Nacho Scocco and Alfred NâDiaye also look set for pastures new although their absence would be unlikely to be noticeable if at all.
well we've bought in three new players so far, all of whom im happy with, so im not panicking yet. Would still like to see borini here though...
I'm not worried, the market will start moving sooner or later, Once the world cup is over, the big teams will make their big moves and the chain reaction will begin as they make their unneeded players available and so forth.
Me neither. Plenty of time to make sure of the right signings.. I`d much rather this than bulk/panic buys.
Thing is, some cracking players could become available, Brucie diving in with 8m on snodgrass really puzzled me. I think better will become available for that price. I understand getting players in early to gel them but I don't think It matters as much with players who know the league. Looking forward to seeing who comes up for grabs, hoping Sig at spurs is one of them.
That`s exactly why he pays over the odds. He did it here. Wants a player, offers top dollar. He`s doing the same at Hull. I reckon Gus & Congerton have a bit more savvy.
With pre-season starting week after next ( I think ) and Gus back from Brazil I suspect we'll have another couple in next week ( hopefully one of them will be Alonso ) and possibly extend Connor's contract the week after. Agree with the sentiment there will be some decent deals to be done once things start moving round.
Ah, got you. Yeah for it to be a viable option to be panicked at this point is a little scary. Thank god no one's owned up to that.
Modibo Diakite 7 comments By Chris Young A DOZEN players have already left the Stadium of Light this summer, at the end of either their contracts or loan spells. That has left sizeable gaps in Sunderland’s ranks for the start of pre-season training which will need to be addressed over the remaining eight weeks of the transfer window. But, as CHRIS YOUNG reports, the Black Cats face the pressing need to send several more players through the exit door while focusing on their summer recruitment drive. BILLY JONES, Jordi Gomez and Costel Pantilimon will all come under Gus Poyet’s tutelage for the first time today. The opening training session of Sunderland’s pre-season programme will inevitably see the trio of Bosman signings looking to make an immediate impression on their new boss. But the free transfer arrivals are not the only ones making their debuts in a Poyet-led work-out today. Danny Graham and Alfred N’Diaye both missed the rollercoaster of the Paolo Di Canio rebellion, cup runs and the Great Escape after being sent out on loan for the entirety of last season. They only met Poyet in person for the first time on Saturday when the players reported back to have their fitness levels assessed. A further three – Modibo Diakite, David Moberg Karlsson and Cabral – find themselves back on Wearside temporarily; knowing they are surplus to requirements after spending the final few months of last season out on loan. It’s a problem which cannot be brushed over. The more impatient among Sunderland’s fanbase are groaning about the lack of incomings for the start of pre-season, when this squad so clearly requires another seven or eight additions before it is up to scratch numerically, let alone in terms of quality. Admittedly, first-team coach Charlie Oatway indicated at the end of last season that Poyet would like as many pieces of the jigsaw in place as possible by this stage, so he could finely tune the Sunderland machine in the six weeks prior to the curtain-raiser. But the transfer market always gets bogged down during World Cup years. Sunderland have brought in some decent Bosmans and have undoubtedly tried to be proactive in terms of further additions. It’s often a test of nerve in waiting to secure targets for the right price or taking advantage of the domino effect from other deals. Inevitably, the players WILL arrive over the next few weeks. But what is just important is that some of the dead-wood from Martin O’Neill and Roberto De Fanti’s spending sprees are offloaded too. Sunderland are not relying on selling these players for significant fees to fund a spending spree. If they were, they’d be shopping in Poundland. The only one of that unwanted quintet where Sunderland would stand a chance of recouping a sizeable fee would be N’Diaye, with Poyet’s thoughts on the French midfielder made clear by his decision not to recall him in the January transfer window. N’Diaye attracted some Spanish admirers during his loan spell at Real Betis during the second half of last season and Sunderland hope one of those will come through. Betis cannot be expected to re-sign the 24-year-old though. While they have made all the right noises about wanting to keep N’Diaye, their budget after relegation from La Liga is akin to a top end League One side. But N’Diaye aside, any transfer fees which Sunderland can recoup this summer will be almost a bonus. As seen with the club’s £1million asking price for Graham – effectively wiping off £4m on the former Swansea striker in just 18 months – Sunderland’s overwhelming priority is to remove these players from the wage bill. In this era when Financial Fair Play has put far more stringent requirements on managing salary levels, it is essential that Sunderland’s books are not bogged down by players who offer no return. Cabral, Diakite – and throw in Valentin Roberge for good measure as he could also depart this summer – are all on big bucks after De Fanti offered them lucrative Bosman moves. They made a total of 17 Premier League starts between them last season. Sporting director Lee Congerton, understood to have been taken aback by some of the wages handed to last summer’s arrivals, knows these players need to go. The challenge is to remove them with as little damage to the balance sheet as possible. Yes, there will always be someone willing to take players on loan with Sunderland subsidising a hefty portion of their wages. But can the Black Cats offload them permanently? Can Diakite be used as a part-exchange with Marcos Alonso (never the most straightforward of deals)? Can Sunderland convince cash-strapped Middlesbrough to spend £1m on Graham? These are questions of paramount importance for Congerton, chief executive Margaret Byrne and the agents Sunderland use as middlemen to offload those players no longer part of the manager’s plans. It’s not a new problem for Sunderland. One of the side-effects of the conveyor belt of managers at the Stadium of Light has been the stagnation of players who don’t fit into the plans of the new regime. Neither does it fill the significant – and obvious gulfs – in Sunderland’s ranks after the departure of 12 players during the summer. But when such wholesale investment is required to supplement the threadbare squad training at the academy today, the strain on the club’s coffers clearly has to be minimised.
I`m convinced there will be. Far better to take it steady and get it right instead of diving in cash first.
