It does, however, remain to be seen how active the Black Cats will be in the market following their steady start to the season with Tony Mowbray’s men currently sitting in sixth place in the Championship.
The January transfer market, though, can be notoriously hard to do business in with clubs reluctant to sell their best players unless inflated prices are agreed upon.
With that in mind, we take a look at some of the best January transfer deals that Sunderland have been able to pull off in recent seasons:
1. Jermain Defoe
Jermain Defoe came to Sunderland in 2019 as part of a swap deal for Jozy Altidore. During his first spell, the former England striker would score 37 times in 93 games for the club. Photo: Ian MacNicol
2. Jonny Evans
The central defender actually ended up joining Sunderland twice in January. Once in 2007 before Roy Keane's men won the Championship title, and again the following season to help the Black Cats remain in the Premier League. Photo: Christopher Lee
3. Carlos Edwards
Carlos Edwards was another Roy Keane-inspired January transfer signing and worth it just for that goal against Burnley alone. Photo: Christopher Lee
4. Jan Kirchoff
The German signed for Sunderland in the January transfer window under Sam Allardyce and played a massive part in keeping the Black Cats in the Premier League for another season. Photo: Stu Forster