Mateo Bajamich, the loan market & Sunderland's salary cap position: Everything Phil Parkinson said in his latest transfer update

Parkinson still wants to make one or two additions before the window shuts next month, but has little room left in his budget in line with the new salary cap rules.

Any player under the age of 21 is exempt from those calculations and so the Black Cats earlier this month submitted a bid for Mateo Bajamich, a forward who played in the Argentinian second division for Instituto.

Sunderland have accepted defeat in that pursuit but throughout, Parkinson stressed that he was also assessing other options.

“We get a lot of players pushed to us and we spend a lot of time going through him in our system,” he said.

“Our analyst will look at them and then to say to us, 'we really need to look at this one'. He was definitely in that category, U21, has pace, so we looked at him.

“But it was always going to be difficult to do a deal because the minute a couple of clubs are in for a player, the price goes up to a level that becomes a little bit too much.

“I'm speaking to agents and clubs all the time about U21 players and players that could become available.

“We'll make sure we look at everything but we're pleased in general with what we've got.”

Parkinson also continues to assess players above the age of 21 who could sign within the salary cap restrictions, while the loan market is another potential option.

The Black Cats boss has held talks with clubs further up the pyramid regarding players who could become available in the latter stages of the window, but says he is happy to be patient and will ony bring a loan player in if they will improve his starting XI.

“It's such a difficult balancing act because we have a limited amount left to spend, purely because of the salary cap.

“We've got to spend it wisely but of course, the U21s don't count so we're searching as well for a player or two in that category who can give us a lift.

“They've got to be better than what we've got and as I've said all along about bringing players in on loan, we've got good young players.

“Anyone who comes in on loan has got to be someone with a good chance of improving our starting XI because we've got good young players ourselves,” he added.

“The squad is looking decent now. You always want one or two more, there's one or two areas where I'd like us to be a bit stronger, but it's definitely getting there.

“We've got options, we've got players out of the team at the moment who could easily come in and stay in the team.

“Last year, when we had that good run, the XI was almost picking itself. I feel we've got that competition this season, but we've got to get the lads who've come in a bit late up to speed as well, both in terms of their fitness and where they come into the team.”

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