Kyril Louis-Dreyfus set to meet with Sir Bob Murray as he continues Sunderland rebuild

The 23-year-old completed his purchase of a majority stake in the Black Cats in February and has set about restoring some structure to the club’s behind the scenes operation.

While some key changes – such as the appointments of Lee Johnson and Kristjaan Speakman – came before the takeover was officially given the green light, the transformation of the Academy of Light setup has shown no signs of slowing down.

A new head of recruitment has been recruited alongside new roles in analysis and data, while the club’s category one academy has also seen several new appointments.

And as he continues to try and lift Sunderland from League One, Louis-Dreyfus is set to meet with ex-chairman Murray in the coming weeks.

Indeed, the 74-year-old has said that his early impressions of the club’s new owner have been overwhelmingly positive.

"Our owner now, I really like him,” said Murray, speaking on BBC Radio Newcastle’s Total Sport.

“I'm going to support this young man and I'm going to do everything he would ask me.

“I'm going to get behind him. I'm not going to involved and things like that, but I'll do anything I can to move that club forward.

“He's reached out to me, we've had quite a few long conversations and we've got meetings arranged.

“I'm going to a game with him, and he's saying all the right things. He seems totally committed.”

And Murray is hopeful that Louis-Dreyfus can be the man to rebuild the football club – that he feels has been ‘wrecked’ in recent years.

"That club is smashed - at academy level and everything. It's not going to turn around in a day, but at least we've got somebody there,” he added.

“It's got no young players, no legacy, no structure - it's just absolutely been wrecked.

“It's been very hard for me because I worked 20 years to build that club up to where we were. I didn't do it for finance, I did it for love.

“This young man is very intelligent, he's got good people around him and a vision. He's certainly worth my time.”

A message from the Football Clubs Editor:

Our aim is to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative Sunderland AFC coverage 365 days a year.

This depth of coverage costs, so to help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to, please consider taking out a subscription to our new sports-only package here.

Your support is much appreciated. Richard Mennear, Football Clubs Editor