Lee Johnson, Manager of Sunderland. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)Lee Johnson, Manager of Sunderland. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)
Lee Johnson, Manager of Sunderland. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

Ten free agents Sunderland could look to sign before the end of the January transfer window

Sunderland have made it clear that they are looking to recruit fresh talent in the January transfer window.

Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman has spoken openly about the Black Cats’ desire to attract new players over the coming weeks, but has also admitted that they will only look to do so if the acquisitions in questions genuinely improve the standard of Lee Johnson’s side.

He told the Echo: “If you cast your thinking back a year, we entered the January transfer window only a short period of time after I joined.

“We tried to make acquisitions that were for the short-term benefit in terms of a couple of loan signings, and a couple of permanent in Carl Winchester and Ross Stewart, which I think have been really good acquisitions for the club.

“We’ll always try to approach it in that way.

“It’s about getting the right mix.

“January always comes with its difficulties in terms of players being under contract and teams being halfway through the season, so the motivation to let players go is often limited,” he added.

“The other thing from our perspective is can someone come in and meet the level required in a short period of time, because you don’t have that pre-season to acclimatise.

“At the present moment we are seeing that some of the teams above us in the leagues are retaining players because of the impact of COVID-19 and postponements.

“We also have a really, really high bar in terms of bringing players into our club and we should always have that.

“There are numerous players on our radar throughout the whole year who we are constantly monitoring and tracking. If the opportunity to acquire one of those players comes up then we will do so.

“There shouldn’t be any nervousness from fans around our ambition to achieve, you just need to be really clear about where your improvements need to be and whether you can make it through any particular player joining the group.

“We have a really strong group at the minute but naturally we are going to have our eyes wide open over the next 30 days.”

But the Black Cats don’t necessarily to go out and spend a fortune to land the players who could help them continue their push for promotion.

As always, there’s a whole roster of eligible free agents peppered throughout the professional game waiting to be picked up by new clubs, and we’ve picked out 10 of the ones <strong>Sunderland</strong> could look at below...

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