Sunderland remain in desperate need of a new striker this summer.
Sunderland looked sharp in their opening game under new boss Regis Le Bris.
The Frenchman steered his side to a confident 2-0 win vs Cardiff City but suffered his first defeat as Sunderland manager away at Preston North End on Tuesday night.
The Black Cats have suffered an early exit from the Carabao Cup. But fans won’t dwell on that too much, with the main aim this season being a spot in the Championship’s top six.
Kristjaan Speakman remains keen on signing a striker at Sunderland this summer.
So far though, it’s been a struggle on that front; Sunderland have been linked with Alexandre Mendy at Caen, but recent reports have revealed that Mendy is now training with Caen after training alone throughout the summer.
Elsewhere, there’s been speculative suggestions on social media that Sunderland could eye a loan return for Ross Stewart at Southampton, with the Scot looking to be well down the pecking order at St Mary’s.
Southampton eye strikers amid injury woes for former Sunderland man Ross Stewart
Ahead of the start of the new Premier League season, and ahead of the fast-approaching August 30th transfer deadline, Southampton look keen on signing a new striker.
Russell Martin currently has just four out and out strikers and Stewart is one.
Stewart though has never played in the Premier League, has played just once in 2024, and Stewart been carrying an injury in pre-season, although not thought to be a serious one.
After such a tough spell with injuries in the past year-and-a-half, a loan exit certainly seems to make sense for Stewart, especially so if another striker is brought in.
And a return to the Stadium of Light where he proved so prolific, scoring 40 goals in 80 total appearances, also make sense.
The striker plan that Kristjaan Speakman may have at Sunderland
Sunderland definitely need a striker. And Stewart definitely needs to get back on his feet next season and play as much football as possible.
Though if Sunderland were to sign Stewart then they’d need to sign another, as they simply couldn’t rely on Stewart given his injury record in the past two years.
So for Speakman, the plan may be clear; sign a permanent striker as soon as possible, then sign a striker on loan from a Premier League club closer to deadline day.
Sunderland remain keen on signing Mendy and have been tipped to get a deal done.
He’d be a very welcome signing but if he were to pick up an injury, Sunderland are back to square one, so two striker signings this summer seems preferable.
Mendy and Stewart would be a dream couple of signings for many Sunderland fans; a deal for the latter though may depend entirely on whether Southampton sign another striker in the coming weeks.