Stewart Donald reveals £500,000 boost to Sunderland AFC's scouting network as takeover talks drag on

The Black Cats’ chief has confirmed that he has sanctioned the recruitment of additional scouts to bolster the club’s recruitment range – having initially scaled back operations in that department last season.

And Donald believes such an investment will only add to the ‘extremely well-funded’ infrastructure at the Academy of Light.

"There's a lot of talk about the structure at the club,” he said, speaking to BBC Newcastle’s Total Sport.

"The reality is we have the best travel arrangements, the best medical investment, the best facilities, the best budget.

"I believe we've got the best squad.

"We are extremely well-funded for this level so we have everything.

"Not much was made of it, but in my last fans talk-in I said we were going to invest half a million pounds on new scouts - going into Scandanavia, Germany, Ireland and the UK.

"The stuff behind the scenes I don't think is the mess everyone is talking about.

"We are, I would have thought, the most professional League One club there has ever been."

The Sunderland chief was also quick to shoot down any claims that the club haven’t spent big on players this summer – claiming that the Black Cats still have a ‘big’ budget, despite a number of free transfer arrivals in recent months.

"When you're talking about the level of investment into the team, I think we've spent quite a lot of money acquiring players,” he added.

"A lot of player we've signed on quite big money wage-wise and that budget isn't the size it is because we haven't signed any players.

"It's a big budget. Nobody else will have spent as much as us.

"I don't think you can turn around and say that we aren't the biggest spenders in the league, despite what has been inherited.

"That's been a problem to deal with, but has that stopped us investing in the team? I don't think so."