Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has been speaking about his decision to buy the club

Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has detailed the unexpected role that the Covid-19 pandemic in his decision to purchase the club.

The 27-year-old took over at the Stadium of Light while the Black Cats were still struggling to fight their way out of League One, but has since overseen a remarkable turn around in fortunes.

Last season’s dramatic promotion via the Championship play-offs has been swiftly followed by a stunning start to the current campaign, with the club sat fourth in the Premier League table at the time of writing.

But in a fresh interview, Louis-Dreyfus has cheekily suggested that had it not been for the pandemic preventing him from visiting Sunderland before making the decision to invest in the club, he might have ultimately moved on and looked elsewhere.

What has Kyril Louis-Dreyfus said about his decision to buy Sunderland?

As quoted by French Football Weekly, the Black Cats chief said: “Maybe it’s my experience of being part of a club-owning family in France. We even saw in 2016 that structural problems with TV rights, etc., were coming. I dreamed of going to England, I always saw it as the best championship in the world. One day, out of nowhere, the opportunity came during Covid, I didn’t think for long and I jumped into it.

“As there was Covid, there was no possibility of visiting the club. If I had attended a League One match, I probably wouldn’t have bought at the end because it was still a shock to go from Olympique de Marseille, who were playing the biggest matches in Ligue 1, and find yourself in a stadium of 1,000 people with a pitch not in very good condition.”

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What has Kyril Louis-Dreyfus said about Sunderland’s January transfer plans following positive start to new Premier League season?

During a recent appearance on Sky Sports, when asked if he was surprised by Sunderland’s start to the new season, Louis-Dreyfis responded: “To be honest we got promoted into a new league, our starting XI is almost entirely of new players so we didn't really know what to expect coming into the season, but to be honest we've been very pleased with the start we've made and especially with the team. For us the most important thing is that the team represents the community and the values of the club and for us we think that, as in the wins and the losses we've had this year, I think the team made us proud and that's the most important thing.”

Turning his attention to transfers, he continued: “I think the stats showed to us that unless you do something extraordinary you're likely going to go back to the Championship. For us, we didn't really set ourselves a budget in terms of the money we want to spend - we had an ambition to try and bring in the players we want and fortunately a lot of the deals we wanted to do we were able to conclude them, and as a result of that the spend in the end was big, but most importantly we got the players that we wanted.

“I would say definitely a little bit [that the great start could affect Sunderland’s approach in January] because obviously if we're in the bottom three by Christmas or we're in the top six by Christmas that changes the ambition a little bit. We're currently preparing for all scenarios but we've been doing that since the summer, so hopefully we'll be going into the January window with a top ten finish in mind and we will prepare and execute the transfer window to give us the best chance.”

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