Mark Donnelly, Phil Smith and James Copley discussed all things Sunderland on the latest edition of The Roar Podcast and the journalists spent plenty of time discussing the Black Cats’ transfer business during the show.
So far during the current transfer window, Sunderland have brought two new faces into the squad, in the form of ex-Millwall winger Aiden O’Brien and ex-Bristol City centre-back Bailey Wright, the latter of whom had been on loan with Sunderland for a portion of last season.
Aiden McGeady has also rejoined the Black Cats following his spell on loan with Charlton Athletic.
Meanwhile, seven players have departed from the Stadium of Light so far this summer, with none of them commanding a transfer fee.
During this recent edition of The Roar Podcast, Smith discussed the business that Sunderland fans can expect to see their club do in the remainder of the current transfer window.
He said: “Probably about five more [signings] I think is right. You need a back-up/competition in goal, you need a centre-half, you’ve only really got three, plus Brandon Taylor – preferably a left-sided one, I don’t think they’ve got a left-footed centre-half at the moment, so that’s probably one they could do with.
“Left-back/left wing-back’s obviously one [that] he wants, a striker – which is probably just about his priority – and then an attacking/central midfielder.
“I think four or five is definitely kind of the number they’re aiming for. The finances, at the moment, are pretty tight in terms of the wage cap, they could really do with getting one or two moved on who aren’t going to be part of their plans.”
Do you think that Sunderland will sign five more players this summer?
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TIF Thoughts…
Considering that seven players have departed from the club so far this summer, it makes sense that the Black Cats would be looking to sign “about five more,” on top of the two that they’ve already brought in, as the journalist stated.
However, considering that a wage cap has been introduced at League One level and Sunderland boss Phil Parkinson recently claimed that the club have had to “change tack a little bit over the last couple of days, and reassess what we’re going to do” in the transfer market because “one or two players who maybe we thought we could have got last week are not in the market place for us now,” perhaps Sunderland will struggle to sign all of their desired transfer targets without selling some more players, as Smith suggested during this recent edition of The Roar Podcast.