Anthony Patterson’s lack of minutes for Sunderland this season is attracting interest from other clubs

Régis Le Bris has said that Sunderland will only allow Anthony Patterson to leave in the January transfer window if the club can find a high-calibre replacement.

And the head coach has warned that will be a difficult task in a notoriously challenging January transfer window. Patterson has only one competitive fixture in the Carabao Cup under his belt so far this season, with Robin Roefs firmly establishing himself as the number one goalkeeper.

A number of clubs are potentially sensing an opportunity to recruit a top-class goalkeeper in Patterson as a result, with Championship side Southampton believed to be one of those interest in a move. Sunderland are unlikely to stand in the way of those who want to leave having found minutes hard to come by this season, but Patterson is in a slightly unique position given his importance should Roefs suffer an injury setback.

“Yeah, I think the conversation is still open with the players who have had less game time.” Le Bris said.

“They have their ambition and this ambition is often connected with the game time. Because if you want to enjoy your career, you have to be on the pitch and when it's not the case, obviously it's not a positive background. So this conversation is open with Patto. He knows that at the minute he's really important, even if he doesn't play. So if tomorrow we have an opportunity and he wants to leave, then we have a condition in front of this option: We need to find someone else at the level. It's not always easy to do that.”

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Régis Le Bris outlines Sunderland’s January transfer strategy

“I don't think we'll rush this process, because we are in a good place, I think, and it's really important to find the right player to fit with our system, so it's always a question of different elements, because you have the player, you have the club, you have us, and so it's not an easy task, we'll see,” Le Bris said.

“When we say two or three spots in the squad [to recruit], that means that our focus is orientated on these positions. But we don't know if we will find the right targets.So you know that maybe you can reinforce this part of the squad, this part, this part. At the end, maybe we will have zero, or one, or two, or three. We don't know, because it's connected as well with the outgoing players. So we'll see.”

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