Sunderland are eyeing up several players in the transfer window to boost their chances of finishing in the play-offs.
The Michael Beale era is well underway away at Sunderland.
After a damning 3-0 defeat against Coventry City in his first match in charge, the Black Cats have taken seven points from a possible nine available and are now looking to bolster their squad in the transfer window.
Whilst signing a goalscorer is high on the agenda having been linked to Fulham’s Jay Stansfield and Hearts goal-machine Lawrence Shankland, Beale also wants to add cover to his defence.
The 43-year-old has been a long-term admirer of Leeds United centre-back Charlie Cresswell and he wanted to sign him while he was at Rangers.
If recent reports are correct, his wish could be granted by luring him to the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland are interested in Charlie Cresswell
According to the Sunday Mirror [via the Yorkshire Evening Post], the Leeds centre-back is attracting interest from a whole host of Championship clubs, including Sunderland, Ipswich Town and Middlesbrough as well as Scottish giants Rangers.
The outlet claim that the 21-year-old is open to leaving Elland Road in the coming weeks but a move is more likely to be on loan rather than a permanent.
Cresswell penned a new deal with Leeds in the summer which runs till the end of the 2026/27 season and is now seeking regular game time elsewhere.
Having starred on loan at Millwall last term, featuring on 30 occasions for the Lions, the Englishman has struggled to break into Daniel Farke’s plans and only made six appearances this term.
With Joe Rodon, Pascal Strujik and Liam Cooper ahead of him in the pecking order, Cresswell could temporarily depart the club and show what the talent that Leeds are depriving of chances.
Charlie Cresswell would be an upgrade on Luke O’Nien
Sunderland’s defensive partnership of Dan Ballard and Luke O’Nien has remained a constant throughout this season and brought the Black Cats relative success.
In 26 Championship matches, they’ve only conceded 28 goals with only Leicester City, West Brom and Leeds United shipping fewer across the entire division.
That said, signing Cresswell would be an upgrade on O’Nien, especially when comparing their respective statistics.
While on loan at Millwall last term, the youngster demonstrated his ability to dominate aerially and fly into challenges, recording 5.2 aerials won per game, 7.6 duels and 0.8 blocks, as per Sofascore.
When comparing that to O’Nien, who averaged 1.8, 5.1 and 0.3 for those respective statistics, it is clear that Cresswell is fundamentally better at defending his own box than the Sunderland star.
Aside from being an upgrade physically, the ‘phenomenal talent’ – as lauded by journalist Oscar Marrio – would form a potentially devastating partnership with Ballard and provide Beale with quality defensive depth.