Journalist Phil Smith has given his verdict on Sunderland and their summer transfer plans under Kristjaan Speakman.
The summer transfer window opened for business on June 14th. But Sunderland were busy finalising a deal for new head coach Regis Le Bris, who’s replaced Michael Beale after a four-month search process.
The Black Cats have brought in free agent goalkeeper Simon Moore as their first summer signing. Though sporting director Kristjaan Speakman will know that Le Bris needs a lot more if he’s to improve on Sunderland’s 16th place finish last time round.
There’s a sense that Sunderland will make changes to their previous transfer policy of focussing almost entirely on youth recruitment, and pay more attention to players with relevant, Championship experience.
That may be seen with the signing of Moore. But Phil Smith believes Sunderland will still place a lot of emphasis on signing younger players during this summer’s transfer window.
Phil Smith gives verdict on Sunderland summer transfer plans
Speaking on the latest episode of The Roar, Smith gave his verdict on what Sunderland fans can expect from their team in he transfer window this summer.
Smith said: “I don’t think the policy of signing young players, whether it be from Premier League academies, whether it be from abroad; I don’t think that would change, and to be honest, I’d expect another group of young player to come in this summer. It wouldn’t surprise me at all.
“I think where there has been a shift, or maybe an acknowledgement, is that they need some more Championship experience through the spine of the team.
“The important thing to remember is that [Corry] Evans and [Bradley] Dack are gone. So they actually need to bring in two experienced Championship players, just to replace what they’ve already lost.”
Kristjaan Speakman and Sunderland must target particular market
Whilst Evans and Dack leaving the Stadium of Light may not impact upon the overall quality of the side too much, given the fact that neither played a whole lot last season, their experience in and around the first-team will be a miss.
Sunderland, like Smith says, look set to bring in some youngsters from the Premier League and around Europe, and may end up spending some money on who they think are players with potential.
So that might mean that Speakman and Sunderland must look for experienced Championship players on the free agent market, as they have done with Moore.
Sunderland remain very set in their ways in terms of the vision, and it seems unlikely that Speakman would want to spend any money at all on a player who is, say, 26 years or older, but who boasts good Championship experience.
The Black Cats must now act fast to snap up the best free agents.