Sunderland transfers: What Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, Kristjaan Speakman and Tony Mowbray have said

What Sunderland’s key figures have said about the club’s transfer plans ahead of the upcoming window.
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Sunderland are preparing for the start of this summer’s transfer window - but what can supporters expect in the coming months.

British clubs can officially sign players from Wednesday, June 14 and have until 11pm on Friday, September 1 to complete their business.

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Here’s what some of the key figures at Sunderland have said about the club’s transfer plans.

Kristjaan Speakman

Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman told Sunderland’s website last month they wanted to complete deals early in this summer’s window, after tracking some targets for over a year.

“We’ll go into the transfer window as we always do, trying to evolve and improve the team,” he said. “We feel there are areas that require strengthening, some of those are more obvious than others.

“But we are only ever going to try and acquire the right players that are the right types of players, the right individuals who are going to contribute to the team in the short and the long term.

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“I think for us maintaining the level of quality we have brought in is going to be the most difficult challenge because the team has evolved and also the standard that is required is increasing.

“I think myself and the recruitment staff are relishing that challenge and the work is well under way on that.

“Hopefully we can be quite early to the summer market and that gives us the best opportunity to be well prepared for next season.”

When asked about taking time to sign the right players, Speakman added: “I don’t know if we can always take our time. I’m not really sure if that is ever going to satisfy.

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“We will always like to be as early as possible to recruiting players because I think it gives us the most preparation time, and we have pre-season for a reason.

“It’s not always possible and you have to be able to find the right player at the right moment, and it has to fit for both themselves and for us.

“I certainly think by being really well organised and planned as we have been, we can go into this window literally from the moment the January window finished.”

Tony Mowbray

Following Joe Gelhardt’s return to Leeds, Ross Stewart is Sunderland’s only recognised striker in the squad.

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The Black Cats will therefore be looking to bolster their attacking options this summer, while head coach Tony Mowbray has also identified centre-back as a position to strengthen.

When discussing Danny Batth’s impressive season back in April, Mowbray told the Echo: “I’ve just had a chat with him about how we will potentially try to create some competition in the summer.

“We brought young Joe Anderson in of course but we always have to keep moving forward and have competition within the dressing room.

“He has to keep pushing on and keep doing as well as he’s doing at the moment and helping the team, but to expect some competition hopefully in the summer.”

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus

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Sunderland’s recent transfer strategy to sign younger players on long-term deals means Carl Winchester is the only senior outfield player out of contract this summer.

"When I came in we had a very peculiar situation where I think we had only about 12 players left [under contract] at the end of my first season,” said Black Cats owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus back in December.

“It was therefore about bringing in a big number of players that summer and then we got promoted and so you have to go through a similar process because you’re stepping up a league.

“My big hope is that, unless we get promoted to the Premier League in the next months, we’ll be able to recruit less and focus on more specific profiles of exactly what we need, rather than needing to go out and find 12 players.

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“We’ve got a really good core of players now in my opinion, and it’s about adding every window, whether it’s this January or next summer, trying to identify the areas where we make those specific improvements that we need.”

Sunderland’s accounts

Sunderland’s annual financial accounts, which were released last month, also gave an insight into the club’s ambitions for the coming years.

They read: “The club will continue to strive to secure promotion to the Premier League. As a club that aims to be financially sustainable this will be built on continued investment in the club to improve the overall commercial performance. In future seasons we are aiming to increase the contribution from commercial activities to allow greater investment in on-field playing success.”

The accounts then explained Sunderland’s objective at the start of the 2022/23 season was to consolidate in the Championship - a target they surpassed by finishing sixth and reaching the play-offs.

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It also revealed the club’s owners had set a goal to reach the Premier League within five years of acquiring control.

The accounts read: “Since Kyril acquired control significant progress has already been made in all aspects of the club’s operations, but there remain numerous further improvements to be made both on and off the field.

“The next season is a period of consolidation as the club adapts to the second tier, but in doing so a proactive improvement program has been planned and is integral to the future success of the club.

“It remains the club’s ambition to return to the Premier League within five years since acquiring control. Following the recent promotion, the club are on track to achieve this.”

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