Phil Parkinson reveals the key criteria that Sunderland's summer transfer targets must fulfil

Parkinson is set to lead an extensive overhaul of the Black Cats’ squad, with a host of first-team players set to depart ahead of the club’s third season in League One.

Kyle Lafferty and Tommy Smith have already left the Stadium of Light and – with ten players set to see their contracts expire on June 30 – it looks set to be a busy summer in the market for Parkinson and the club’s recruitment staff.

Sunderland are not expected to dive into the market, with uncertainty over when the season will restart and the financial implications of supporters not being allowed into stadiums making planning difficult.

But Parkinson already has targets in mind, and insists he is keen to ensure that the right characters are brought into the club this summer – with a willingness to buy into the culture he is attempting to cultivate a key criteria that must be hit.

“We’ve got the opportunity to have a whole pre-season with the players and recruit the players and characters we feel will be important,” said the Sunderland boss, speaking to safc.com.

“You need the right characters, quality level and type of people around you to get the job done.

“It’s going to be an interesting summer, but I’m confident we’ll recruit the right people and supporters will have a very good team to watch next season.

“I feel we’re setting a culture in the club - the work ethic required and the desire and hunger that supporters want to see,” he continued.”

“If you pull on a Sunderland shirt, you’ve got have a certain type of quality to handle playing on this stage and for our supporters to warm to you.

“We’ve got to make sure that we produce a team next year that our supporters can relate to and get behind, because when we did that in a period after the turn of the year the support at the Stadium of Light was exceptional.”