While new owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus is said to have money to spend, the Black Cats will also be looking to find value for money when the transfer window reopens.
Clubs across the EFL will no doubt be monitoring the free agent market as they look to bolster their squads for the 2021/22 campaign.
And as teams make plans for next season, there have already been announcements about some players who will be released this summer.
While Sunderland’s season hasn’t concluded, the majority of the Black Cats’ squad will also be out of contract.
Here's a list of every player at Championship clubs who will be either out of contract next month, or who has already been released.
There are some interesting names on the list.
2. Birmingham
Jon Toral, Alen Halilovic, Caolan Boyd-Munce, Josh Dacres-Cogley, Steve Seddon, Dan Crowley, Agus Medina, Charlie Lakin, Ivan Guzman, Geraldo Bajrami, Joe Redmond, Ryan Burke, Bernard Sun, Jack Concannon, Miquel Fernandez Photo: Gareth Copley
3. Blackburn
Stewart Downing, Elliott Bennett, Bradley Johnson, Lewis Holtby, Corry Evans, Joe Rothwell, Amari’i Bell, Ryan Nyambe, Joe Rankin-Costello, Harry Chapman, Charlie Mulgrew, Sam Barnes, Louie Annesley, Lewis Thompson, Jalil Saadi, Ben Paton, Joe Grayson, Tom White, Sam Burns, Dan Pike, Sam Durrant, James Connolly Photo: George Wood
4. Bournemouth
Adam Smith, Jack Wilshere, Junior Stanislas, Steve Cook, Nnamdi Ofoborh, Christian Saydee, Tyler Cordner, Frank Vincent, Abdi Mohamed Photo: Naomi Baker