Lee Johnson makes interesting League One admission after Sunderland's rivals Portsmouth and Ipswich announce new signings

However, Johnson was clear in his own ambition, stating he and the recruitment team are looking to sound out players capable of guiding the club to the division title.

While the Wearsiders have endured a quiet start to the summer transfer window, several of their rivals are not resting on their laurels.

Portsmouth have been busy with the arrivals of Shaun Williams and Clark Roberton this week, while Ipswich Town are also signalling their intent under Paul Cook.

When asked about the quiet start to the window, Johnson said: "A lot of it is the market and what the market constitutes.

"We are hopefully now at the back end of the pandemic but a lot of Championship clubs have probably been hit the most.

"Funnily enough, a lot of League One clubs seem to be going for it this year and there's a fair bit of money flying about in League One, so that will be interesting and it will probably be more competitive than it has ever been.

"At the same time, our challenge is to go and recruit to win the league, it is as simple as that.

"These are the sleepless nights that you have, but they are also filled with hope and also that football IQ that allows you to streamline financially but get the best team possible for that."

Johnson revealed he has held talks with potential new signings via Zoom ahead of pre-season training beginning on Monday.

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