Inside one of Sunderland's busiest ever deadline days and where they now stand

Tony Mowbray said on Thursday afternoon that he was hoping and expecting a busy end to the transfer window.

Maybe not quite this busy, he may have been forgiven for thinking a few hours later. Southampton had moved close to the signing of talismanic striker Ross Stewart and were eyeing up a move for Patrick Roberts; there were (unconfirmed) rumblings of other players weighing up their next steps To say things were starting to get a little fraught in the world of following Sunderland would most definitely be edging towards understatement.

24 hours later, though, things were beginning to look altogether more settled.

Mowbray had come from his press conference straight from the Academy of Light boardroom, where Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and other members of the board were now firmly in situ with the club’s recruitment team. They would barely leave for another 36 hours, putting the finishing touches to what has been a dramatic transfer window.

Stewart’s impending departure, good business given his contractual situation but undoubtedly a blow both on and off the pitch, had raised the stakes ever higher. 

Signing two strikers on deadline day was seen by most as the minimum requirement and well, in the end, they got there. Nazariy Rusyn has long been a target of Sunderland’s but the obvious complications of the current situation in Ukraine has made it a complex deal to execute.

Rusyn underwent a medical in Paris as an agreement was finally struck and followed the arrival of Mason Burstow.

Sunderland’s striker pursuit has been a long and winding road this summer and when Jay Stansfield opted to join Birmingham City around a fortnight ago, fans wondered if it would ever end. Around a week before that Mowbray and Speakman had been part of an impromptu meeting in the manager’s office following a dire Carabao Cup defeat to Crewe Alexandra. Mowbray pushed for Sunderland to move on a striker now, and not leave themselves vulnerable to deadline-day drama. His message was heeded, but Stansfield opted instead to stay closer to home and so that solution passed.

Burstow’s arrival, then, was something of a tonic. At just 19 he is clearly unproven at this level but Sunderland feel they have landed one of the best Premier League loanees available this summer. His exit had been delayed as he played a significant part in Chelsea’s pre-season campaign but the Black Cats pushed hard once he was made available and they believe time will show how well they’ve done to win the race against competition from both within the UK and abroad.

Their other two deadline-day deals in truth came as no great surprise: two talented youngsters from Ligue 1 who in time could go on to be real assets. Given that Timothée Pembélé was playing in PSG’s side towards the end of last season is a sign of his pedigree, and what he could come to be in time. Similarly, Adil Aouchiche has played and succeeded at a high level in the early stages of his career. Their promise will excite fans and rightly so.

Both, though, will need time both to adapt to a new environment and get up to speed in terms of their fitness. Even Sunderland’s successful acquisitions last season required that, with Edouard Michut and Abdoullah Ba not featuring prominently until the second half of the campaign.

This was a window in which Sunderland committed wholeheartedly to their policy of snapping up young talent, even if much of that was done in the early stages of the window. 

It means that while they have undoubtedly added some hugely exciting talent to their squad, they have not necessarily made immediate improvements to their starting XI. The exits of Stewart and the return of Amad to Manchester United inevitably loom large as Sunderland look to turn promising performances in the opening weeks of the season into promising results.

They have also let big dressing-room leaders go in Lynden Gooch and Danny Batth, whose absence will be keenly felt off the pitch. On it, Mowbray had moved to other players in the early stages of the season but they would undoubtedly have offered reliability had they been called upon at some stage. To that end, that Alex Pritchard is staying feels a real boost for Sunderland and Mowbray even if there is now severe competition for places in attacking midfield.

At one stage on deadline day it looked as if Sunderland may well land a fifth incoming deal and having not done so, there is arguably one key gap left in the squad. Mowbray had pushed for the club to sign an experienced central midfielder, warning that not doing so could be asking for trouble somewhere down the line. With Corry Evans unlikely to be fit until the New Year, Sunderland are an injury to Dan Neil and Pierre Ekwah away from asking 17-year-old Jobe Bellingham to drop deeper than he has done so far, or bring 16-year-old Chris Rigg into a deeper position than he would otherwise be utilised in at this stage of his career.

Part of the story both of this deadline day and of this summer window more broadly was about talent retention, too. Burnley pushed for Jack Clarke earlier in the summer but their bids were unimpressive and Sunderland stuck to their guns. He will have a big part to play alongside the likes of Trai Hume, Dan Neil, Dennis Cirkin and Dan Ballard - all of whom would have had Premier League or top-level Championship suitors had they not signed new long-term deals earlier this summer. 

Rigg’s scholarship deal, it should be remembered, came amidst significant Premier League interest.

Though Southampton made that late move for Roberts on the eve of deadline day, it was made very clear that their offer was not tempting. Only a huge bid would have changed the picture and it was not forthcoming. When it became clear that the influential and popular winger would be staying, the deadline-day business had a much better feel for both. 

Elliot Embleton’s loan to Derby County progressed quickly and was something of a surprise, but with Aouchiche arriving and Pritchard staying, it had become difficult to see how he could get the minutes he needs to rebuild his match sharpness after an eight month lay-off.

So did Sunderland come out of deadline day stronger than they went into it? Well, that hard graft behind the scenes at the Academy of Light most certainly yielded a stronger result than many had feared 24 hours previous.

The most essential business was done, with some potentially exciting talent added along the way.

Whether they have come out of this window stronger is far harder to discern. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised given the clear strategy in place but they have lost some established players and replaced them with far greater unknowns. Sunderland would say their talent ID in recent windows has been strong enough to warrant some confidence.

What we can be fairly sure of is that they will continue to play a bold and attractive style of play, and that they have what it takes to be hugely competitive at this level. To replicate last season’s efforts? That depends on how quickly these summer additions can settle and make an impact. A lot of last season's core and perhaps more importantly, a lot of season's goals have now departed this summer. Mowbray said someone else would have to come in and be the hero. Sunderland think they've found those players; time will tell.

One of the busiest deadline days in memory has left Sunderland with an immensely exciting squad and a fair few uncertainties. That's rather becoming the new norm.