Sunderland are looking to make the most of the time left in the transfer window to ensure their season is a positive one.
Sunderland have started the season below par. They’ve lost their opening three competitive fixtures with the most recent defeat coming away to Preston North End last weekend.
The Black Cats had hopes of replicating their play-off push of last season and whilst it’s still early days there are signs Sunderland just aren’t quite at the same level they were last time around.
Tony Mowbray enjoyed a positive start to the summer with several exciting additions coming in. However, business has since slowed and there’s been little movement in terms of incomings for quite a while now.
But, there are reports linking Sunderland with several new arrivals and departures this past week.
Danny Batth’s future has been up in the air for a while, and QPR are the latest side to be credited with interest in the defender (Via Alan Nixon’s Patreon). He was Sunderland’s player of the year last season but now the club appear to want to move him on.
Former Chelsea U21 winger Silko Thomas was on trial with Sunderland last week. He made a good impression contributing to three goals in a 6-1 win against Huddersfield Town U21. It remains to be seen whether Sunderland will offer him a contract, but it is one to keep an eye on.
Alexander Aravena is a name that has been linked with Sunderland for a lot of this summer (Via SAFCsource). The 20-year-old South American is highly-rated in Chile and is thought to be a big prospect. Sunderland are desperate for depth and competition in the wide areas, but with a fee of €8million mentioned it may be far fetched for Sunderland to pull off a deal this summer.
Lynden Gooch is another man linked with a move away from the north east this summer. The versatile American can play on either wing and even at full back. He’s been at the club since he was a schoolboy, but he’s another name Sunderland are open to letting leave this summer. QPR and teams in the MLS are being credited with interest in the 27-year-old at the moment.
Nazariy Rusyn is another attacking name said to be on Sunderland’s radar this summer. The 24-year-old Ukrainian international contributed to 19 goals in 30 league outings last season. He’s currently playing in Ukraine’s top tier and it was first reported Sunderland had made a €2m offer. But, in the last week it was said that report wasn’t true and an initial approach is yet to be made (Via Roker Report).
Tony Mowbray has most recently been on the record talking to The Chronicle claiming Sunderland are still working on several deals for attacking reinforcements. But none appear imminent as things stand. He said:
“Every day there’s a bit of movement, so we are closer but not to the point where there is anybody through the door,” he said this afternoon. “I fully understand deals are difficult to do.
“The selling club can start really high and therefore the deals take a long time to get done. So we are closer? Yeah, but we can’t say there’s someone coming to help the team tomorrow.”
He finally went on to add:
“I’m pretty sure we’ll get it [bringing in another striker] done. That work is going on behind the scenes.”
