I interviewed Sunderland's sporting director and here's the five key things I learned

Kristjaan Speakman spoke to The Echo and other local media outlets last week to reflect on Sunderland’s summer transfer window and all the key deals that did and didn’t happen.

The sporting director also gave us some insight into what his next key priorities are in a wide-ranging discussion. Here’s my five key takeaways from the chat…

LACK OF INTEREST KEY FACTOR IN DECISION TO ACCEPT CLARKE BID 

Jack Clarke’s departure was the biggest and most high-profile transfer of Sunderland’s summer, and this was the first time Speakman has opened up on the decision to accept Ipswich Town’s bid, believed to be in the region of £15 million with around £5 million in potential add-ons.

Speakman outlined two key reasons for accepting the bid. The first is that Clarke had attracted numerous bids from Burnley last summer, which Sunderland had rejected as they felt they fell short of their valuation. Clarke accepted the club’s stance and delivered a superb campaign. As such, the club felt it wouldn’t be right to stand in his way for a second summer in a row when the Premier League again came calling. They believe that in order to keep attracting top talent to the club, they have to demonstrate that they won’t stand in player’s way when the time is right. 

Most fans had in truth braced themselves for Clarke’s departure this summer, but there was understandable disappointment that the fee fell short of what other top forwards in the league had moved to Premier League clubs for. Addressing this point directly, Speakman said that there had been little formal interest in Clarke until Ipswich came to the table late in the window. That lack of interest meant he could not foresee a scenario in which Sunderland would get a similarly significant bid in the next three transfer windows, which would then risk the club losing a key asset with limited scope for reinvestment.

Elsewhere in the interview, he also pointed out that Sunderland had knocked back bids for seven or eight players across the window, including significant bids from the Premier League for Tommy Watson on deadline day. Given the significant contract renewals that also took place over the course of the summer, Speakman and Sunderland feel that despite the Clarke sale they have again demonstrated that they are not a ‘selling club’, and that the ambition is there to build a team to win promotion. The Clarke sale and the fee in particular will continue to divide opinion but Romaine Mundle is so far justifying the club’s faith in his ability - though it is of course a long campaign. 

SUNDERLAND DUO IN LINE FOR CONTRACT RENEWALS

Part of the logic in accepting the bid for Clarke was clearly that he had entered the last two years of his deal and that as such, his value would now begin to decline. Which raises the obvious question of who else might be in that scenario.

Patrick Roberts and Luke O’Nien are two, but the club are protected by clauses which allow them to extend those deals automatically by a year in both cases. With Dan Neil and Dennis Cirkin, there is no such protection and Speakman told The Echo that renewals were ‘definitely’ on his radar in the weeks and months ahead. Neil rejected an initial offer earlier in the summer, but the club is in a much stronger and settled position now than it was then. This looks to be a key part of the sporting director’s work moving forward. As with Clarke, Sunderland understand they’ll be vulnerable next summer if not resolved by then.

THE CLUB WILL HIRE AN ASSISTANT FOR RLB - AND POSSIBLY MORE TOO 

While Sunderland’s results so far this season show that the coaching group is working well and having a positive impact on the players, many supporters remain eager to see Le Bris given additional support in his backroom staff. Speakman told us that the club remained determined to do that, and a potential appointment had fallen through at a late stage earlier in the summer. At that point, the decision was made to pause and focus on the closing weeks of the summer window.

Talks will resume again now and Speakman also said that it might still be the case that multiple appointments are made to ensure Sunderland are in the best position for the long campaign ahead. One to watch, it seems.

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SUNDERLAND ARE PREPARED TO REVISIT THE STRIKER SITUATION IN JANUARY 

As Clarke moved towards an exit, Sunderland completed an initial loan deal for Wilson Isidor and then added Ahmed Abdullahi on deadline day. Speakman told us that the Abdullahi deal was one that they didn’t think would be on the table earlier in the window, and so moved quickly when that changed. Given his limited senior experience, there’s an understanding that it will take him a little while to settle. 

As such there’s clearly more pressure on Isidor to contribute in the short term, while Eliezer Mayenda’s form is encouraging. Speakman told us that the club were already looking towards January and would be prepared to invest, and so the striker situation is one that might well be revisited depending on how the next couple of months pan out.

BLACK CATS HAVE HIGH HOPES FOR ALEKSIC - BUT THEY’RE WILLING TO BE PATIENT

Speakman told us that the club had been pursuing a deal for Serbian midfielder Milan Aleksic for an extended period, and that the deal had gone all the way until deadline day because the youngster had been weighing up multiple offers from across Europe.

As such, Sunderland believe it is a huge coup that they have convinced him to come to Wearside and hopes are high that he can have a real impact - more than likely as an attacking midfielder.

However, Speakman also noted that Aleksic does not speak much English at this stage and that with the team in such good form, they feel they can be patient in letting him settle if necessary. So it seems as if it might be a little while before we see him challenging week in, week out for a place in the XI but that will of course ultimately depend on how he trains and how quickly he can impress Le Bris.