The crucial role Sunderland's latest behind-the-scenes appointment will play in the significant summer rebuild and beyond

First up was the appointment of Stuart Harvey as Head of Recruitment, a position that has been vacant since the departure of Tony Coton in July. That Sunderland have effectively gone through two transfer windows without this critical component in place tells you everything about the ongoing tumult they have been through.

Little wonder the squad, while competitive, lacks balance both in age and in attributes.

There is experience and there is quality, but it skews arguably too much towards the former and if that made sense for Phil Parkinson's brief to navigate a promotion tilt for the short term, then it is clearly out of step with the new vision that Louis-Dreyfus and Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman want to implement.

The second moment came when Sky Sports News reported that Charlie Wyke is fielding significant interest from four Championship clubs.

There is little surprise in this; any second-tier club worth their salt would be taking an interest with a player who has scored 30 goals across a campaign. That he is out of contract this summer brings him into the realm of being a potential bargain for any club feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wyke is of course one of an unusually large number of players entering the final months of their deal, and while there may not necessarily be a mass exodus, it is clear that Harvey will be overseeing a significant summer rebuild.

That he has almost a blank canvas to do so is both exciting and daunting.

Though Speakman has begun work on modernising the club's recruitment structures to favour a more data-led approach, he has been honest in admitting that this is a long-term challenge and Sunderland are building from a standing start.

It is widely known that Coton's tenure as head of the department came at a time when Madrox stripped back the personnel significantly, and the move to try and claw back some of that lost ground ran quickly out of steam at the start of the pandemic.

Harvey's appointment will be no quick fix and there is no silver bullet for Sunderland's long-standing shortcomings in recruitment.

His task is to oversee the building of structures that can make the Black Cats more methodical and more targeted in the deals they do.

Harvey's task is in each position, building a database of players who can slot into Lee Johnson's philosophy of high-tempo football with an aggressive high press while also adding value to the squad.

Harvey will then be part of the discussion, alongside Speakman and Johnson, when targets are identified.

Speakman has been clear that the final say will rest with Johnson, and all three will also be making their calls based on extensive background research into player's personalities and attributes away from the pitch.

Johnson has already spoken about being mindful of the unique demands that come with being a player for a club of Sunderland's size, and how that will play some part in guiding his thinking ahead of the summer and beyond.

One of the challenges for Sunderland is that which division they will be playing in next season remains unclear.

Speakman has been planning for both scenarios, but the vast number of contracts expiring owes much to this uncertainty.

We can split those nearly at the end of their deals into three groups.

The first is those who have a future in both divisions, and who will fit into the likely budget of both. Jack Diamond was one example and Sunderland have already moved to secure his future.

There are those who Sunderland would like to keep, but may at this stage feel they cannot commit to financially while the fate of this season is not yet decided, and vice versa (as Johnson has always said, you must always factor in that players want to play at the highest level for the longest time).

Then there are those who Sunderland are unlikely to keep at the club, or may not have yet have made a final decision on.

Part of the reason why the Black Cats seem relatively relaxed about the situation is that in a number of cases, they are believed to have the option of a one-year extension. A similar situation played out at this time last year, when there was understandable concern that the club were at risk of losing the likes of Chris Maguire and Luke O'Nien. Sources were always nonplussed, indicating that the club had protection and so that eventually proved when the retained list was released.

Undoubtedly, there will be some cases where they are vulnerable and it may well be that Wyke is one of those.

As such, it is shaping up to be a seismic summer regardless of how the final three (but hopefully six) matches play out.

The task for Harvey is, starting with the summer window, to play his part in producing a squad that is leaner, quicker and younger.

It has been a challenging three weeks for Sunderland and there has rightly been criticism that, for a third season in a row, they have played themselves into contention for a top-two spot and then fallen away at the most important moment.

Promotion remains a viable possibility but no matter what happens, this has been another campaign when off-pitch turmoil has had a clear impact on it.

The hope is that the Louis-Dreyfus era can finally put an end to that, and if we have learned one thing from the last decade it is that succeeding in recruitment will be utterly pivotal.

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