Sunderland may have already suffered their first summer transfer blow since the arrival of Regis Le Bris as their new head coach.
Sunderland have ended their four-month search for a new head coach, bringing in Frenchman Regis Le Bris to replace Michael Beale.
The 48-year-old was most recently at Lorient where he spent two seasons in what was his first managerial job, overseeing the club’s relegation from Ligue 1 last time round.
Le Bris though has an impressive CV as a youth coach having spent the last 20 years working with Stade Rennais and Lorient, largely as an academy coach.
His arrival has split opinion among Sunderland fans who are now desperate to see sporting director Kristjaan Speakman oversee some positions summer signings.
Simon Moore recently became the club’s first signing of the summer transfer window. But many more are needed, especially further up the pitch.
But it looks like one player previously linked with Sunderland is now heading elsewhere.
Sunderland transfer target Ar’jany Martha in talks with European clubs
Sunderland were linked with departing Ajax gem Ar’Jany Martha at the start of June. But the 20-year-old Curacao international now looks set for a move elsewhere in Europe.
Foot Mercato report that Auxerre are in talks to sign the full-back on a free transfer with Italian outfit Monza as well as Villarreal also interested.
More interestingly, it was previously claimed that Pascal Jansen arriving at Sunderland would’ve bolstered the Black Cats’ chances of signing Martha.
Jansen obviously didn’t land the Sunderland job, instead taking charge of Hungarian outfit Ferencvaros.
Ar’jany Martha missed, but Sunderland may have a trick up their sleeve
The Jansen-Martha link for Sunderland was exciting, and it could be an indication of what’s to come for Sunderland under Le Bris this summer.
It’s already been suggested that Le Bris’ extensive knowledge of French football could give Sunderland an edge when hunting for players in the country.
Speakman is fond of the French market but has had mixed results bringing in players from there, in names such as Timothee Pembele and Abdoullah Ba to name a couple.
But expect Martha to be a definite profile of player that Sunderland want to sign this summer; experience of playing in a top academy, and available on a free transfer.
There’ll no doubt be young players leaving the likes of PSG this summer who might be of interest to Sunderland, who previously signed Pembele and also Edouard Michut from the French giants.
A very busy, but potentially very exciting summer transfer window lies ahead at the Stadium of Light.