Sunderland made an impressive nine signings during the summer transfer window. A window where the Black Cats weren’t expected to do a whole lot.
In fact, before deadline day, Sunderland and Kristjaan Speakman had signed just the five new players for Regis Le Bris, following his June appointment.
But on deadline day, Sunderland signed four new players, giving Le Bris some much-needed extra bodies in the first-team squad for this season.
So far, Sunderland’s summer signings seem to have made a difference, although the main difference-maker is of course Le Bris.
He’s yet to utilise three of his deadline day signings in Milan Aleksic, who can’t get off the bench, and Salis Abdul Samed and Ahmed Abdullahi who are injured.
Chris Mepham has already featured 10 times in the Championship this season owing to the injury to Dan Ballard.
Salis Abdul Samed could leave Sunderland in January
Samed joined Sunderland on loan from Will Still’s RC Lens during the summer. But the 24-year-old arrived with a pre-existing injury that has so far kept him out of action.
His return date keeps on getting pushed back with Le Bris most recently saying that Samed could return for Sunderland in January.
Now though, fresh reports in France from Allez Lens (via Sport Witness) claim that Samed’s loan deal at Sunderland could be cut short in January if his situation doesn’t change.
He remains under contract at Lens until 2028. He’s highly-regarded by the French club who are said to be keen for Samed to play more regularly in the second half of this season.
Three Sunderland midfielders facing potential January exit
News of Samed’s potential return to Lens doesn’t feel at that surprising, despite the fact that he’s not played due to injury.
The Black Cats have a very strong midfield department and even if Samed were fit, whether he gets in ahead of the likes of Alan Browne, Dan Neil, or Chris Rigg remains to be seen.
And the midfield department as a whole could see a shake up in January. Abdullah Ba and Adil Aouchiche are out of favour at Sunderland and could be up for sale in January, with the pair having just one league appearance between them this season.
For Sunderland, January could be a good time to clear the decks and make space for either January or summer signings. But Speakman must be careful to not leave Le Bris light in numbers for the business end of the campaign.