Sunderland will return to the Premier League this season after an eight-year absence

The story of Sunderland's summer transfer window will be of a club trying to get the balance right.

Between the level of investment needed to bridge the daunting gap to the Premier League, and ensuring that they do not saddle themselves with deals and contracts that could damage their attempts to become a long-term force at the level.

The headlines are sobering. The last six teams to win promotion from the Championship have all straight back down, and to survive last season you needed to finish above Europa League winners Tottenham Hotspur. The top clubs have never been richer and the teams in midtable have never been smarter, more stable and more resilient. No one at Sunderland is under any illusions as to the scale of the challenge that awaits them both this summer and beyond.

As Kristjaan Speakman told The Echo earlier this week, you are jumping up one division but in terms of footballing level, really it's two or three. To get a squad that can be competitive at the level is going to take a lot of hard work and clearly, a lot of investment.

Speaking to various sources over the last couple of weeks, it is perhaps a little early to be discussing individual names in too much depth. Sunderland are now working to fast track their recruitment work, starting a couple of weeks behind their rivals having earned promotion through the play-off route. Sunderland had been working on two plans dependent on how their season ended, and the first stage was therefore to compile the longlist of Premier League targets. Speakman, Régis Le Bris and the recruitment team have gone through that initial process and now the work steps up to start determining potential availability and cost.

The general shape of how Sunderland want to approach this summer window, though, appears behind the scenes to be fairly clear.

Sunderland will be ambitious, and the record deal to sign Enzo Le Fée on a permanent basis is the shape of things to come.

Sources have indicated that there is scope for similar deals of that level, though clearly on a relatively limited basis. Sunderland's internal research, analysis and debate about how best to try and survive at the to level following promotion has indicated that the strategy is to focus on quality first and foremost. A vast transfer spend on a raft of players is no guarantee of survival, and risks damaging the in-built advantage parachute payments secure you if the worst does indeed happen. So Sunderland's focus is on investing on a spine of high-calibre players who they expect to improve the team immediately. The core of their team who won promotion last season will be given a chance to impress in pre-season and prove they can be part of the Premier League squad, with a level of confidence internally that some will be able to handle the step up.

Recruitment sources have indicated that at this early stage, they expect Sunderland to stick broadly to their policy of investing in young players and focusing on European markets where better value can often be found and where club have an advantage through the knowledge and connections of their head coach and ownership group. That is certainly consistent with the messaging behind the scenes at Sunderland, though there is also an acceptance that some flexibility needs to be shown. Don't be surprised, then, if Sunderland do look to the loan and free agent market to add a little bit of experience and perhaps Premier League knowledge to their squad on top of those handful of core signings who might generally be more in line with the club's core recruitment strategy.

Sunderland are aware that Jordan Henderson could be available this summer and would be interested in principle, but sources have indicated that it is very early days and that both parties would have a number of factors to consider.

A key part of Kristjaan Speakman's work this summer will be offloading a number of players who are highly unlikely to play a part in a Premier League squad, but the mood on this front is more relaxed than you might expect. The club are in a strong enough financial position to press on with their plans regardless, and there is a confidence that suitors will be found along the way. Le Bris showed last summer that he will be ruthless in focusing on a core of players he expects to work with in the season ahead, and will do so again to minimise any disruption through those vital pre-season weeks.

Fundamentally, Sunderland view this not as a one-season project but a long-term process of establishing themselves at the top level. Promotion is a game changer financially not just in getting Sunderland back to the big time, but by securing in the very worst-case scenario another two years of significant revenues. It's a golden opportunity that the club are determined not to spurn, and that means avoiding taking on any major financial liabilities that could swallow up that advantage in future seasons.

So Sunderland want to be the same team fundamentally in the Premier League as they have been in the Championship: lean, hungry, athletic, versatile.

To get to a stage where the club can realistically compete in the top tier is going to take a level of spending and ambition in transfer targets unlike anything Sunderland fans have seen for a decade. The Black Cats believe they can emulate those clubs who over the last decade have managed to establish themselves at the top level, but recognise that for many of those clubs it is not always been a linear rise without bumps in the road.

Expect ambition and more eye-catching deals, but expect it to be targeted.