Regis Le Bris may make the calls to move some players on in January.
Sunderland currently find themselves sat in 4th position in the Championship after a recent poor run topped off with a defeat at the weekend against table-toppers Sheffield United.
It was a first loss in 10 games for the Black Cats, however Regis Le Bris’ side have found themselves on the back end of five successive draws prior to the loss against the Blades, and as a result, Sunderland now find themselves just five points away from dropping out of the play-off spots.
Weaknesses are starting to open up across the side, including in attack, which has seen Sunderland score just three goals in their previous six games. Unfortunately for Le Bris, the squad depth simply isn’t there to experiment with the side, and he will certainly need reinforcements in January if the team are to maintain their promotion push.
On the other hand, Le Bris may likely sanction some sales in January in order to free up spaces for new arrivals, and three players immediately come to mind as figures who must impress the French boss this month, otherwise they will be on the back end of a potential sale away from the club.
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Adil Aouchiche
French midfielder Adil Aouchiche has had an incredibly tricky time in staking his claim for a place in the side ever since the start of the 2024/25 Championship season.
There is no hiding the fact that he was also out of favour under Le Bris at Lorient before they both moved over to Wearside, and this could easily be affecting his lack of game time so far this campaign.
However, Le Bris took the action to bring Aouchiche on from off-the-bench for just the second time this season, which could be a sign of things to come for the Frenchman, but he won’t have much time to prove that he should be kept on in January.
Abdoullah Ba
Sunderland winger Abdoullah Ba was ever-present in the side last season, but is yet to be handed a single minute of action under Le Bris, who looks very reluctant to hand the attacker any time on the grass with the first team.
This weekend, the Black Cats attacker featured for the U21s in a positive team performance that ended in a 3-2 defeat to Man City, but Ba played very little part in that after only really contributing a below-par performance lacking effort.
The writing is seemingly on the walls for Ba and his time at Sunderland in the near future, with a potential League One loan seeming to be the best avenue to go down in order to rejuvenate the winger’s career.
Nazariy Rusyn
The Ukrainian has also struggled in front of goal for Sunderland, like the prior two options, and the Black Cats striker has been handed very limited opportunities as a result.
With both Wilson Isidor, Eliezer Mayenda and Aaron Connolly seemingly being ahead of Nazariy Rusyn in the pecking order, he stands very little opportunity of game time in the Championship, and it could be a case that a permanent move elsewhere would be the best for his own career.