The Sunderland Echo’s Phil Smith appeared on the most recent edition of the SAFC Unfiltered podcast and he spent some time talking about what transfer business the Black Cats could still do before Friday’s domestic transfer deadline during the show.
Sunderland have made six new permanent additions to their squad for the 2020/21 season thus far and when asked about the possibility of the North East club getting some more business done before Friday’s deadline during this recent edition of the SAFC Unfiltered podcast, Smith shared that he thinks a backup for 22-year-old left-back Denver Hume should be the North East club’s “priority.”
The journalist said: “I think you definitely need another option at left-back/left wing-back. I think Denver deserves a huge amount of credit for his improvement in his game over the last 18 months and now he has made himself Sunderland’s first-choice wing-back in his performances this season, I think he’s gone from strength to strength.
“It’s such a congested schedule, there’s so many games to play, Denver’s such an important player – especially going forward – to what Sunderland do, you need someone who you can drop in and who can replicate that if Denver gets an injury or needs a little rest.
“I know Luke O’Nien can probably play there, Tom Flanagan can probably play there, Lynden Gooch can play there, so it’s not like it would be a disaster. I just think, if you want to be a top-two side, you want that option in what is a really important position so I still feel like that’s going to be the priority before the window shuts.”
Should a backup left-back be Sunderland's priority in the transfer market at present?
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TIF Thoughts…
So, judging by what the journalist had to say, it’s clear that he thinks the Black Cats’ lack of natural depth at the left-back position is the main area of concern for Phil Parkinson’s side at present and he seemingly thinks this is the primary issue that they need to address before Friday’s deadline in order to boost their chances of securing promotion from England’s third tier this season.
In addition to having a lack of natural depth in this position, it may be fair to say that Hume has been a key player for the Black Cats in the attack this term, as Smith also alluded to, as the 22-year-old has played the second-highest number of key passes (2.3) and completed the joint-second-highest number of dribbles (1.0) per League One game of any Sunderland player this term, according to WhoScored.
With that in mind, it may be reasonable to say that if Sunderland don’t currently have a backup option who could produce a similar offensive output to Hume, then the 22-year-old’s absence could have a noticeable impact on Sunderland’s performance in attack and as a result, we feel it’s understandable why this would be the club’s “priority” in the transfer market at present.