The transfer state of play at Sunderland

Sunderland Echo

Phil Smith explains the latest transfer news at Sunderland and what could happen before the end of the window

Transcript

00:00So just over a week of the transfer window left to go and we're expecting it to be pretty busy

00:06at Sunderland, though mostly with outgoings rather than incomings. In terms of incomings,

00:11we kind of know what it might look like for Sunderland. Regis Labrie said in his press

00:16conference yesterday that he's really happy with where the squad is and making quite clear really

00:21that if the window was to shut tomorrow he'd be quite happy with the options he has. But Sunderland

00:25would still like to say make one or two signings. Labrie said two maximum yesterday. We know what

00:29that looks like. Ideally they would like to sign another winger because obviously since that deal

00:33fell through to sign Armand Loriente from Sassuolo earlier in the summer, they haven't been able to

00:38sign another winger. So they're still looking at that and we know that they would love to sign

00:44Jean Lesumi from Bologna if that is possible. Now at the moment that's proven quite a tricky deal

00:48because Bologna are really, really reluctant to sell. Lesumi wants the move but Bologna have

00:53already brought in a lot of money from player sales so far this summer and at the moment

00:59they're reluctant to sanction another one. So you'll know that they've sold the winger

01:03Ndoi to Nottingham Forest which was obviously a big money deal. Perhaps more relevant to

01:08Lesumi's case they've also sold one of their other key centre backs to Napoli for a big money deal. So

01:13at the moment they're really reluctant to lose another player. And their director Claudio Frenucci

01:19has actually given an interview to a newspaper Il Resto di Carlino this morning which is one of the big

01:24newspapers, local newspapers in Bologna, basically saying that they won't let Lesumi go this window. They've already

01:29lost too many players and it's not possible for another key player from their team last season to go.

01:34Now obviously it's not quite that simple because as you'll be aware Lesumi has entered the last year

01:39of his contract and so it's a big risk for Bologna and particularly given that he wants the move because

01:44at the moment they're at risk of him running the contract down and moving for free next summer.

01:48Which obviously from a financial perspective as it would be for any club, as it would be for some

01:52London in a similar situation, isn't far from an ideal scenario. So given that Lesumi wants the move,

01:57there is still a possibility that Sunderland could make this deal happen. We saw this obviously with

02:02Bayou Leverkusen and Granit Xhaka whereby Leverkusen were insistent they didn't want to lose Xhaka but

02:09eventually Sunderland hit a number that forced the deal to kind of go through. Now my feeling is

02:16that this is going to be a really tricky one for Sunderland because the fees are starting to get

02:21very, very high. Lesumi is a slightly more experienced player, it's not like some of the

02:25players like Habib Diara who Sunderland has signed where the resale value is obvious. Lesumi is a

02:29really experienced player and so Sunderland have to kind of make a decision at what point

02:35the deal doesn't represent great value for them. Now they would love to sign Lesumi and I think the

02:39reasons are pretty obvious. He's a very experienced player, he's a very high caliber player, particularly in

02:44possession he's outstanding and would bring some elite qualities to Sunderland's backline.

02:48And what was interesting in the Brees' conference yesterday was he basically said

02:52is that there are a couple of options that we have that would really, really add something to

02:57the squad and really we improve the squad. If we don't get them, we won't do it. So this isn't

03:01about we desperately need bodies, we desperately need to fill out the squad. This is about there's

03:05a couple of potential options on the market who think we could really improve us. Lesumi is

03:08obviously one of those and out wide there are obviously some options that they're looking at as

03:12well. But there's a chance that Sunderland don't do any more business, there's a chance to do too.

03:16So at the moment Lesumi is looking really tricky but obviously we're not saying yet that it's not

03:20going to happen, it's way too early to do that because there is definitely a chance that Sunderland

03:24hit a number that Boulogne you essentially feel is too good to refuse. The question is for Sunderland

03:28is what point does that number get too big and what point does it start being good value.

03:33The reality is that the vast majority of the business that happens in the final stage of the

03:37window is going to be outgoings. So we know for example that a lot of players who were told at

03:44the start of the summer and that they weren't going to be part of the first team squad are

03:47still trying to find moves. So Nasri Roussin, Abdullah Ba, Timothy Pembele, Jan Pevera,

03:53Jamie Tete and there may be one or two. Louis Jamea is another one, I think that's about it.

03:59Progress has been pretty slow on that front and so we're still looking to find those options.

04:05Labrice made clear yesterday that he feels like in the last week of the window more opportunities

04:09will come up and he's fairly confident still that those players will find a solution and will

04:14find a new club. But there's also going to be a lot of outgoings from players actually still in

04:17the first team squad who have all had pretty good pre-season campaigns but whose game time is going

04:22to be really limited. So Labrice confirmed yesterday that Alan Brown was one player who could potentially

04:27go out on loan. I thought Brown had a good pre-season, he looked really fit. I thought

04:31he could see when he played in a younger and more inexperienced team, he actually really brought

04:35something to that group and so he definitely has something to offer but I think the competition

04:40for players in midfield is so severe that it might be best for him to go out for a year and get regular

04:45minutes. Same with Leo Hjelda who's obviously still injured but is due back after the international

04:49break. He's a player who's really rare and who could have a future with them potentially but whose

04:54minutes don't look likely to be massive this summer and so he's another one who could go out on loan

04:59and in fact I expect that will probably happen at some stage next week if the right club can be found.

05:05There's other players also in that mix as well. Nick Trianthans it appears is but closing in on a

05:09permanent move to Minnesota United in the MLS. Obviously wants to play regularly especially in a

05:14World Cup year. Stock's quite high after a really promising loan at Hibs so I think this is a good moment for

05:18Sunderland to kind of potentially capitalize on that interest. Jensen Seale is another one who

05:23could go out on loan although I suspect that may be linked to the Lesumi deal if Lesumi comes in.

05:27I think it's fairly obvious that that Seale's minutes will then be squeezed and a loan move might be

05:33might be the best option. NEC as I've mentioned before from the Eredivisie from where Sunderland

05:37signed Robin Ruffs are interested and would definitely do a loan deal for Sunderland if he's available.

05:41However I think Sunderland would be really comfortable if they can't get Lesumi and I think they'd be really

05:45happy to have Seale involved in the squad. I think he showed last week what he's got to offer.

05:50So yeah I expect it to be a really busy window although I expect as I say predominantly

05:54most of the headlines will be outgoings and there's a lot of work to be done in that department

05:58but possibly still the capacity for one or two fairly high profile incomings as well.

06:03This very very exciting almost unprecedented transfer window might have one or two twists and turns yet.

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