Everything Kyril Louis-Dreyfus said about Sunderland's transfer plans, play-off agony and the 'ownership group' in new interview

The club’s majority shareholder spoke to the Jim White Show on talkSPORT to offer an update on a whole host of subjects – from transfer plans to Lee Johnson’s future.

And here’s everything Louis-Dreyfus had to say during the interview:

On Sunderland’s play-off defeat…

"To be honest I was quite disappointed obviously, as was everyone else, that the season didn’t finish as we expected it to finish.

"However, at the same time I do feel positive and I’m looking forward to next season – even in League One.

"During the play-offs anything can happen and unfortunately we fell short over the two legs against Lincoln. However, I think the players deserve credit as they tried their best and it just didn’t work out for us this time.”

On plans for the close season and the transfer market…

"We announced our squad list for next season yesterday which obviously included a few departures which need to be replaced.

"Over the last few months we recruited people from across the industry – the likes of Stuart Harvey and Kristjaan Speakman as you’re aware.

"I trust that we have a good team in place to look for the best possible replacements.”

On Lee Johnson’s future…

"Lee Johnson was a long-term appointment from the start.

"We all knew that regardless of the outcome of the season that he will be with us next season.

"I think he’s the right man to lead us to promotion hopefully in this forthcoming season.”

On delivering success for Sunderland’s supporters…

"Football is something, unfortunately, where you cannot give guarantees.

"We had that for 20 years when we owned Marseille, but what we can guarantee is that we’ll try our best and we will work as hard as we can to increase the likelihood of success as much as we can.

"Obviously the fans of Sunderland have been one of our great weapons and a great help for the players in the Lincoln game, which was the first time when I saw the fans in the stadium.

"It was unbelievable and I think it really helped the team to try and win the game.

“I think if we have their support it will help us achieve our goals over the next couple of years.”

On whether he is in it for the long-term…

"Definitely. As I mentioned before, with the last two teams that we owned they were both for two decades and slightly more.

"I’m definitely here for the long-term and hopefully there is a lot of good things to come over the years.

"I said from the start that it’s going to be a long-term project because as I think all Sunderland fans are fully aware, we need to know where we are at the moment and where we’re starting from.

"I don’t think a quick fix is possible in our current situation. I really think we need to implement our long-term plan to rebuild every area of the club to hopefully then get success out of it.”

On whether he will splash the cash to get Sunderland back to the Premier League…

"First and foremost I need to say that I am not the sole owner of the club.

"There is an ownership group consisting of more people than just myself owning the club, so it’s not really solely me that owns the club.

"However, I would say that as an ownership group everyone is committed to support the club.

"First and foremost we need to support it as we have done over the last four months to cover the significant losses that every football club is having right now due to the pandemic.

"It’s our responsibility to sustain the club through this difficult period, and hopefully when this financially difficult period will end we will be able to invest in some more long-term assets - and not just like now when we’re covering losses.”

On his message to fans…

"The only message I have is that I’m obviously very grateful for the support that they give the club all season long since I started following this team.

"We’re working very hard to be able to accommodate fans in this upcoming season and I’m looking forward to sharing a lot of good moments with them hopefully in the next few months.”

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