Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris has explained why there may be some hesitation in making January signings.
The Black Cats have endured a solid 2024/25 Championship campaign as they go past the midway stage of the season.
Sunderland currently find themselves sat 4th in the Championship table following a big win at home to Sheffield United, which saw the Black Cats attack come alive. Wilson Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda were deployed as a two-striker partnership for the first time this season, and it paid dividends as both bagged goals to send Regis Le Bris’ side towards a 2-1 victory at the Stadium of Light.
Whilst Le Bris’ side were on top form against the Blades, recent weeks have seen some poor results, mainly due to the lack of depth that the French boss has at his disposal in the midst of what is a current injury crisis for Sunderland.
Despite this, it is not expected that Sunderland will make several signings in the window, and Le Bris has outlined some of the difficulties from a coaching point of view.
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Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris explains what makes January signings ‘difficult’
Despite the injury-hit squad that Sunderland boss Le Bris is currently having to manage, which has seen the likes of Romaine Mundle and Tommy Watson out of action for weeks, it is not expected that the Black Cats will make too many additions in the January transfer window.
In Le Bris’ recent pre-match press conference looking ahead to the Portsmouth clash, he was asked about January incomings and whether there is anything particularly halting many signings taking place, to which he said: “You can have a very talented player [sign], but if it doesn’t fit with what we are and what we want to do together, it won’t work.
“It’s still a gamble [to sign a player in January] because if you don’t train, you don’t play with the team, you don’t know what will happen exactly, so it’s a very important part of the assessment.
“It’s not easy because in preseason it is very useful to create links, to get to know each other, but in this short period it’s more difficult.”
Sunderland are currently linked with Louie Barry this January, however a permanent deal at this stage seems unlikely, whilst the Black Cats have also reportedly shown interest in a loan move for Evan Ferguson.
Kristjaan Speakman must get squad balance perfect after January, key signings are still needed
Le Bris speaks a lot of truth in regards to it being more difficult for players to settle when they join halfway through a season, however, it doesn’t take away from the necessity that Kristjaan Speakman still must bring in players.
Particularly due to the current injury situation, Sunderland still need extra players in the frontline, not necessarily to be providing a massive goalscoring impact, but more to ensure depth across the line, whilst defenders wouldn’t go a miss for the side either.
Sunderland have certainly got almost all the pieces in the puzzle to really send a promotion push down to the wire against sides with much more financial muscle, but there needs to be a lot of emphasis on bringing in the players that will add extra assurance when injuries hit the team.