Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray has given an update on the club’s plans for the January transfer window
Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray says the club’s January transfer plans are well advanced and will accelerate in the coming weeks.
While Mowbray has not yet addressed specific objectives with the recruitment team, he does indicate that prospecting for prospective new hires is ongoing.
The head coach also said that he met with the recruitment team to discuss which areas the club would aim to reinforce, with the striker position being one of them.
Sunderland’s strikers have yet to score this season, despite some impressive displays in the 3-1 victory over Birmingham City.
In that game, Eliezer Mayenda made his debut from the bench and will see more action after the international break.
Sunderland’s head coach says the club is analyzing all areas to see where they can improve.
“I haven’t made any recommendations as such,” Mowbray said, “but we’ve done player audits: what do we need, where do we think we are, where are we strong?” In football, you can never stand still.
“We’ve discussed the striker position; these lads have a fantastic opportunity.” If they aren’t scoring goals after playing 10, 15, or more games, something is wrong, and we need to fix it.
But it is true of every perspective. If the midfielders can’t keep a clean sheet, if the goalkeeper continues putting the ball into his own net, that’s what you have to do all the time, you have to keep moving forward.”I know Stuart’s recruitment team is working really hard; they’ve been all over the world in the previous few months, and I’m sure there are huge lists of names I haven’t seen yet. I’m sure those names will start to arrive as we get closer and the budget is established, because that’s always a factor.
“Normally, at this club, some footage of the players we’re interested in appears on our laptops, and as staff, we can look at it and then have meetings where we all give our opinions.” We’ll have four or five coaches there, not just me, and everyone gives their opinion, whether they like or dislike that guy, and we go from there.
“Not only the coaching staff, but the recruitment staff, the sporting director, and I’m sure the owner have opinions.” Then there’s the matter of money. Which player should we pick? We all like him, but he’s £20 million, so why is he on the list?
“That’s how it usually works. We’ve begun the player audits, so we’re assessing where we think we’re strong, where we might need to add another player or two, and the closer you go to January, the more it crystallizes, you’ve seen the clips of them, and you know the conversations have begun.”
After a number of bids for Jack Clarke were turned down in the summer, the club’s January contingency plans will include preparing for any interest in their first-team regulars.
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