Two Sunderland players have been tipped to potentially leave the club in the January transfer window.
For Sunderland, a pivotal few weeks lies ahead.
The big thing facing them right now is their next head coach appointment.
It’s feels like the biggest appointment of the Kyril Louis-Dreyfus era so far with the club clearly looking for a young and contemporary coach to come in and deliver his and the board’s their vision for the club.
There’s several candidates seemingly in contention, and whilst Will Still appeared to be the front-runner, it’s since been revealed that Sunderland now have another prime target for the job.
And the new head coach looks set to arrive at the Stadium of Light ahead of the January transfer window.
We’ll no doubt see Sunderland linked with new potential signings, but a couple could also leave, with strikers Mason Burstow and Luis Hemir two who Michael Graham believes could be on the move.
Mason Burstow and Luis Hemir fail to make an impact
Burstow joined on loan from Chelsea in the summer whilst Hemir signed from Benfica.
But since, neither of them have registered a league goal for the Black Cats, who are once again struggling for strikers.
And neither player is yet to feature under interim boss Mike Dodds and whether either of them come into contention under the next boss remains to be seen, if not unlikely.
Hence, Graham believes that Burstow could well return to Chelsea in the summer, whilst Hemir potentially heads out on loan.
Graham also says that he thinks Sunderland will ‘definitely’ be in for a new striker next month, posting on X:
A change in strategy needed at Sunderland?
Sunderland are rightfully commended for having the youngest squad in the league and for recruiting mainly young players.
And they’ve unearthed some talented players in the process. But there needs to be a balance between this youthfulness and experience.
Alex Pritchard’s recent return to the XI is a prime example of this; he’s shone since coming back in and has highlighted the need for experience on the pitch.
When looking for their next striker, Sunderland may need to look closer to home and for a player who’s already tried and tested.
Neither Burstow or Hemir had any real experience before joining the cub and both have been poor, so a striker with a proven track record of scoring should be targeted.
Sunderland haven’t got their striker search right in the last two windows now and whoever the new boss is will be praying that the club gets it right next month.