Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce is not afraid to confess that Sunderland will face difficulties in attracting a striker to the club.
Allardyce has admitted defeat in his pursuit of Swansea City striker Andre Ayew and will be in the market for a different forward.
A busy window, with both arrivals and departures
So far, Sunderland have mainly focused on defensive counterparts in the window. French centre-back Lamine Kone arrived from Lorient earlier this week and joins Jan Kirchhoff as a new defensive recruitment.
Allardyce also signed veteran goalkeeper Steve Harper. Dame N’Doye is so far the only signing that will bolster Sunderland’s attacking threat.
It is likely that Allardyce will do all he can to bring a new striker in before the window slams shut. Danny Graham was loaned to Blackburn Rovers leaving Sunderland’s attacking power rather light.
A lack of funds?
Ellis Short has so far seemed reluctant to spend money with Sunderland’s league rivals splashing the cash. However, it is thought that Allardyce has reduced the club's wage bill before bringing in new recruits.
Allardyce said, “It’s the hardest part of the team to strengthen, but you have to keep looking don’t you. You have to keep trying."
He added, "It’s the hardest, and that’s why we haven’t got one yet apart from Dame. We hope he can do what he did for Hull last year, scoring five goals in 13 games.”
Allardyce outlines what he wants
The Black Cats boss admitted his main target was to bring someone in who can score goals: “I’m looking for goals, whatever position that comes from. If someone has a decent goals record of one in three or one in four, I’d be interested, as long as he does the right things outside the box as well of course.”
He wants "goals and quality in the final third", as he believes Sunderland "get into the final third as much as anybody" and "produce opportunities" when they get there.
However, he thinks that they quality from his side is not "as good as it should be", and that he has to try and "make that better".
Ayew move seems to be off, Debuchy debatable
Ayew was apparently the man Sam wanted with the club prepared to offer £10million plus Fabio Borini for the Ghanaian international. However, Swansea remained stubborn and Sunderland admitted defeat, with no chance of a revival which we seen in the Kone deal.
“Have we given up? Yes,” said Allardyce. “I can’t see Swansea selling Andre Ayew. I never really thought they would to be honest, and we haven’t put a bid in. It was a bit more speculation about whether Swansea would let him go.”
The Black Cats are also in the market for a third new defensive reinforcement in the shape of a left-back. Mathieu Debuchy is thought to be Allardyce’s chosen man but the Arsenal player has also held talks with Aston Villa and West Ham.
Allardyce admitted, “I’m not sure he really wants to leave Arsenal, or that Arsene Wenger would let him go.”
Finances hard to come by
The Financial Fair play regulations are said to be part of the reasons Sunderland are struggling to add to their squad.
Sebastian Coates left for Sporting Lisbon just as Kone arrived whilst Jordi Gomez has been made available for a permanent move.
Adam Matthews is available for loan but Steven Fletcher, who West Ham are said to be interested in, is said to want to see out his contract at Sunderland.
Allardyce explained, “For the first time ever, you’re balancing finance. So Seb’s gone out to help balance the finance for Kone coming in. It’s a balance of having to move out the finances if you want to bring things in."
“You can’t just do it like we used to in the past, you have to be more active with the outs as well as ins than ever before. We don’t have to get rid of an attacker (to bring one in) just yet.
There are other players on the fringe, like Jordi Gomez, that may go out. Adam Matthews hasn’t played much, and he’s looking to get some first-team football too. If we can move on those type of players, it clears some room in terms of wages.”
Kone to slot straight in?
Unlike Kirchhoff and N’Doye, £5million man Lamine Kone is match-fit. “He’s played all the time for Lorient, so I don’t think his fitness should be an issue,” said Allardyce. “He played last week, and I see his fitness levels as being okay to go straight in."
He added, “Hopefully, he’ll be able to cope with the quality at this level. We’ll take that risk, and hope it pays off. It’s a calculated risk in that sense."
Allardyce is hoping he can bring "[Sunderland] more clean sheets", which he admitted is something they have "been lacking in the time since [he has] been here".