Last season, Black Cats boss Alex Neil had to adapt by playing people out of position and switching to a wing-back system to accommodate an unbalanced squad.
Neil often set his sides up in a 4-2-3-1 formation at former clubs Norwich and Preston, and may want to deploy a similar system at Sunderland for the 2022/23 campaign.
While Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman has said the Black Cats will have a competitive budget this summer, they will also be looking at the loan and free agent markets.
Here are nine players they could try to sign:
While Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman has said the Black Cats will have a competitive budget this summer, they will also be looking at the loan and free agent markets.