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  • 6 months ago
Daniel Wales looks at how Sunderland’s Sporting Director, Kristjaan Speakman has adapted the club’s recruitment model to suit the needs of the Premier League.

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00:00Three new arrivals on Wearside, with more potentially on the way.
00:08Sunderland have certainly made a busy start to this summer's transfer window.
00:13The signings of Ronaldo Mandava, Noah Siddiqui and Habib Diara represent the next step in
00:19Sunderland's journey as a football club.
00:22They are trying to bridge the gap between the Championship and the Premier League by
00:25spending money and bringing in players who are young and with talent, but also those
00:30who are perhaps slightly older with experience like Mandava.
00:34This is going against the grain a little bit in terms of what Sunderland have been used
00:38to, bringing in mainly youth products who they've developed and helped in their journeys
00:44as well as the clubs themselves, but Sunderland know that experience is also needed to be
00:49successful in the Premier League.
00:51Sunderland have certainly been on an upward trajectory for some time now under Sporting
00:56Director Christian Speakman.
00:58He spoke at length about the models so far and how it has got them to where they are, having
01:03been promoted from the Championship to the Premier League, but also where it can take them now
01:07they're in the top flight of English football.
01:11You have an idea and you have a concept and you have a belief in the way you should work.
01:20Going about the challenge in the way that we did was never about doing anything other than
01:23what we felt was the best thing for the football club and doing it in the best way, in the best
01:27manner.
01:28I think over that period of time that people have bought into that journey and naturally
01:33when you do something that's maybe slightly different to what was done before, it will always
01:37maybe come with a bit of suspicion and a little bit of people being a bit unsure.
01:42But I think to go through from League One to the Premier League is hopefully something
01:47that never has to happen for Sunderland again, but it is a really, really rewarding piece
01:52of work.
01:53I came out of the hotel on Sunday morning with my family and it was a really nice touch
01:58because there must have been several hundred supporters outside and got a really nice round
02:02of applause.
02:03It was really nice for me personally, but more so it was nice for my family, you know,
02:05everyone has to work, everyone's family has to sacrifice, so it was a really nice moment
02:09for us to obviously get recognised for the work that we put in, obviously more so in terms
02:13of how important it is for the supporters, they have a football club back in the Premier League.
02:18The next challenge for Sunderland is to maintain their Premier League status, with Christian
02:23Speakman alluding to the business done so far and outlining just how it will benefit
02:28the club.
02:30We have to stay true to what we are as a football club, what we've built.
02:34You know, I've been on record previously saying that, you know, the solution to get us to
02:38the Premier League won't necessarily be the identical solution for us to stay in the Premier
02:41League.
02:42So we will have to pivot and we will have to adjust in terms of how we operate and what
02:46our team looks like and what the feel of it is.
02:48We want to make sure that we're always aiming for that sort of high performance.
02:51We want to make sure that we've got a youthful squad.
02:54We also understand the challenge of what the Premier League is.
02:56It's the best league in the world and we're going to have to make sure that we have a team
03:01that's obviously capable of doing all the things that our team has done before but obviously
03:04at a higher level.
03:05What is also clear is that the work that Spiekman and Sunderland have done has made the club
03:11an attractive one to players from the continent.
03:15Ronaldo Mandava coming from Atletico Madrid has made very clear that it was his dream to
03:19play in the Premier League and that Sunderland have given him that chance.
03:23And so coming from a club who in the last 10 years have been Spanish champions to Sunderland
03:29who in the last 10 years have been in England's League 1 just shows where Sunderland were and
03:35now where they're at as well thanks to the direction imposed by Spiekman.
03:42For me it's a dream.
03:44It's a dream come true because it's my dream to play in the Premier League.
03:52It's a dream to play in the biggest team in the Premier League in England.
04:00So it's a pleasure for me to be here today.
04:03I'm very happy.
04:04So it's like I said I said before it's a it's a dream come true because when I was a kid
04:13always we we live football in my country.
04:16We live football in my home also because my father was a player.
04:21My grandfather was a player.
04:23So even my my brothers and my sister they they're playing football.
04:28So so we're born in the in this in this world of football you know.
04:33Of course the real challenge for Sunderland will come in mid-August when the season gets underway.
04:37Regis Labris will coach the team as he sees fit but it will be Spiekman's model and recruitment
04:43that comes under scrutiny.
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