Régis Le Bris drops interesting Sunderland transfer hint as he names the example to follow in January

Régis Le Bris hopes that Sunderland can replicate the immediate impact of Chris Mepham in the January transfer window.

Mepham was a deadline-day addition from Bournemouth and has proved to be a huge success, one of the best players in an excellent first half of the campaign. A loan signing for the season and with significant experience across the top two tiers, he represents a very different profile of player to the vast majority of Sunderland’s incoming recruitment in recent years.

But with Le Bris previously making clear that the club would be focusing on quality rather than quantity next month, he looks to be a template for the kind of business they will look to do - albeit their focus will primarily be on attacking signings this time around.

Le Bris said: “Yes, probably. It's that type of target, I agree. The team is very well balanced at the minute. We have many injuries but we can expect some will be available soon.

“If we want to add something to the team it should be someone ready to play and who can make a specific impact right now rather than take time to develop that player. It should be the type of target like Meps was at the beginning of the season.”

Le Bris says there has not been any extensive dialogue with Bournemouth over Mepham’s future, with most loan deals including a January recall clause as standard. The Sunderland head coach expects the 26-year-old to stay, however.

“At the moment nothing specific [has been discussed],” Le Bris said.

“He's with us and I trust him for the second half of the season.”