Sunderland boss hints at club's interesting shift in strategy - this transfer window at least

Michael Beale has said that Sunderland are looking for more experienced options in the January transfer window, but added that this makes the deals themselves harder to land.

Beale confirmed on Wednesday that no new additions were imminent, with the club known to be looking to add two or three players to their squad before the end of the month. A striker is a key priority, while central midfield and the left side of defence are other potential areas for strengthening.The club are interested in bringing Amad back from Manchester United on loan, but as it stands they are not expecting his departure from Old Trafford as Erik ten Hag is expected to give him chances to impress in the second half of the season.

In his pre-match press conference ahead of Hull City's visit to the Stadium of Light on Friday, Beale was asked if Amad's success last season would be a positive for Sunderland as they look to strike loan deals for other players in this window. The head coach said that it would be, but added that the club were looking to a slightly different market as they look to bolster their push for a play-off place.

"Generally, if you look at my background and Michael Dodds as well in terms of the extensive time we've had in academies," Beale said.

"When you're a club in this league or any league, when you go to the loan market you're generally looking for a young, up and coming player - well we have those in the building, don't we?

"So then you're looking for something a bit different. As manager or a coach in the Championship, when you go to the market and you're a Championship team you're often looking for a young one who's ready to break out, and Amad was that type of player last season. We'd take Amad, for example, but does our team need that now or does it need something a bit different to help us in the last 19 games? Those players are more established, earning more money and it's harder to tempt those ones out."

Earlier in his pre-match press conference, Beale made clear that the club were primarily targeting players capable of immediately competing for a place in the starting XI.

"We've got two or three areas where we feel we could help the team, and that's help us now and then also moving forward from the summer," Beale said.

"We've got do what's right for the club in terms of working within the budget. Also, we want good players. We don't want players who are going to come in and sit behind me [on the bench]. I think the performance on Saturday deserves maybe one or two players to go into that team and really push and challenge those players, to then rotate in and out if we have injuries. We don't feel we need players to pad the squad out. I think that would be wrong, certainly when we have players who were are developing and have high hopes for in the future."