Jack Ross has enjoyed a fruitful start to life as Sunderland boss, remaining unbeaten in the League after five and only Steve Evans’ unstoppable Peterborough sit above the Black Cats in the league.
It’s early doors for Sunderland in League One, and while they were considered heavy favourites to make a return back to the Championship, the transition between leagues always proves more difficult than expected – take Blackpool, Yeovil and MK Dons for example.
One major problem for Sunderland as they headed into League One was their wage bill, still carrying much of their dead weight from the Premier League. The club was effectively held hostage by Jack Rodwell, who has since departed for Blackburn. Lamine Kone was also offloaded this summer, joining French club Strasbourg on loan, the man who was once subject of a £25m offer from Everton, whilst the Black Cats were in the Premier League.
It is being reported that Papy Djilobodji will be the next player to depart the club on loan, with Turkish side Trabzonspor hoping to complete a deal in the next 24 hours. The former Chelsea man’s exit will free up a large proportion of the wage budget at the Stadium of Light.
EFL clubs have a deadline of August 31 too complete their loan business, in that time Sunderland will be hoping that record signing Didier Ndong will have also departed the club, with Benfica reportedly interested in the Gabonese defender.
Sunderland’s next fixture is a home fixture against Karl Robinson’s Oxford United who have struggled thus far, picking up their first win of the season at home to Burton.
