Sunderland’s great start to the season has made way for a more mediocre run of results of late, but they could fix that in the January transfer window.
In the midweek fixture against West Brom, Sunderland failed to make a meaningful penetration in the final third and registered their fifth consecutive draw.
The result sees the Black Cats slip down the Championship table, and while they are now ten games unbeaten, it is clear Regis Le Bris’ team have room for improvement.
Sunderland are missing the creativity of Romaine Mundle, while Wilson Isidor, though working hard, is not finding the back of the net quite frequently enough. So, here are some options for the Sunderland manager in the next transfer window.
Evan Ferguson is available for loan
According to The Athletic, Brighton and Hove Albion have made superstar striker Evan Ferguson available for loan in January, as the Seagulls look to help the young forward get back on track after his injury issues.
It’s a move which has alerted a number of clubs across Europe, and there is likely to be a mad scramble in January with teams looking to bolster their forward line, but Sunderland have to get themselves in that conversation.
We all know what Ferguson is capable of on his day; he’s big, strong, a great finisher, and offers intelligent hold-up play.
Sure, he could join a struggling Premier League side and score a few goals, but it would probably be far better for his development to drop down to a top Championship team, where he would be absolutely prolific, to regain confidence as well as conditioning.
Marc Guiu needs more game time
Chelsea have a number of top young players that are struggling for meaningful game time right now, and one would imagine their bloated squad will be trimmed in January with loan moves for those players.
Marc Guiu has already shown he can be a top talent — his display against FC Noah in the Europa Conference League was tantalising — but he needs to be doing that more regularly, and there’s no chance of that happening at Stamford Bridge this season.
The 18-year-old is another who could probably bag a move to a lower Premier League club or head out to another league in Europe, but if he genuinely wants to make a success of himself in England, there’s no better place to cut his teeth than in the Championship.
Southampton happy to let Sam Amo-Ameyaw leave on loan
Another club looking to reduce their squad size in the New Year is Southampton, with Alfie House at the Daily Echo claiming promising young winger Sam Amo-Ameyaw will be sent out on loan.
The 18-year-old is very highly-rated by the Saints, but with Russell Martin’s side struggling to stay in the top flight, this is clearly not a good time to be blooding youngsters.
Amo-Ameyaw has had a brief taste of Premier League action, but he’s too good to be sitting on the bench when he could be tearing it up in the Championship.
With Patrick Roberts struggling to make meaningful contributions from the right wing, Regis Le Bris would do well to add a different option to his side, and borrowing this exciting young talent could be exactly what the Black Cats need to reinvigorate their title charge.