Ben McKevitt says…
A ‘knife edge’ might be pushing it, but it’s goes without saying that the final week of the transfer window is massively important for the rest of the season and beyond. When everyone is fit, our starting eleven is strong but depth is still a clear issue and was exposed on Saturday, in my opinion.
Florent Ghisolfi hasn’t let us down since he arrived last year and I expect this to be no different, so while I’m a bit disappointed by the lack of incomings so far, I’m not worried.
I’m hopeful that our
lack of creativity and directness on the wings will be addressed, whether through Geny Catamo’s arrival or somebody else’s.
Left centre back depth is also an area we’ve been trying to address for over a year now so that would be next on the priority list, with a young forward rounding out the requirements (if you already count Jules Ahoka in midfield). It’s been more sagas and less action this year compared to last, so I expect a few shocks to come.
I’m confident that we can do all of that incoming business without losing an important player at this stage — we couldn’t afford to lose any going into such a landmark campaign. Our capacity to ship out peripheral players has been excellent this summer and I expect at least one of Hemir, Abdoullah Ba and Aji Alese to exit permanently.
Overall, with the Europa League draw and such crucial profiles still to be recruited, I expect this week to be very exciting indeed…or at least I hope so.
Calum Mills says…
I think we’ll get our targets in the positions we clearly need them in.
Our recruitment department are very cloak and dagger in their approach, which I personally appreciated. Yes, there’s been a few ‘leaked’ targets but for the most part they’ve navigated their way through transfer windows as consummate professionals, leaving us all very surprised and happy with the signings we’ve seen!
As long as we get a right winger, centre back and striker through the door, it’ll have been a successful window. Any less than three key signings this week and the bed wetters will be having a field day and I’ll be signing off social media until it all calms down.
For exits, I don’t foresee any surprises as such.
Jenson Seelt, Aji Alese, Alan Browne, Abdoullah Ba and Luis Semedo will likely all leave either permanently or on loan but none of them are starters for us. Ba and Semedo are just absorbing salaries, which can definitely be better spent elsewhere.
I expect the next week until the window closes to be extremely busy and as mentioned before, the team under Florent Ghisolfi knows what its doing.
I have full trust and faith they’ll get the right personnel and characters through the door. When the sight of the blacked out Mercedes V-Class vans arrive on people’s screens, it’ll no doubt elevate the mood around the fan base!
Dean McDonald says…
I’m still fairly confident. Florent Ghisolfi and company have never given us a reason to not be and the Dayann Méthalie deal shows we’ll get deals done on our terms, although it’ll become harder in the last week.
We’ll definitely bring in a right winger for a substantial fee, whether it’s Geny Catamo, Matías Soulé or someone we’ve not been linked with. Jules Ahoka has been announced, and I’m fairly confident we’ll bring in a third striker and possibly another defender if the club deem it to be required.
I’m not worried about anyone coming in for our best players and I’m certainly not worried about our resolve to keep hold of them — we showed with Granit Xhaka that we won’t be bullied.
Hopefully we can get rid of Abdoullah Ba, Hemir and Alan Browne, as well as loaning Jenson Seelt and potentially Jocelin Ta Bi, depending on incomings.
I think we’ll be in for an exciting deadline day and some deals may well go down to the wire, so it’ll be a late night for most of us.
P.S: Release the squad numbers. My neurodivergent side requires it.
Ian Bendelow says…
It’s not about confidence levels — it’s about knowing nothing can hurt me anymore.
I’m not saying that by qualifying for Europe, Sunderland have completed football, but the truth is it makes me worry very little about much of anything these days. We lost to Ipswich at the weekend? Oh well, cheer up everyone. The Europa League draw is coming up this week. Let’s all drown our sorrows with a pint of Super Bock in Lisbon while we complain about the damned October sunshine.
That theory applies to the transfer market too.
Yes, we need strengthening, particularly on the right wing. But if we didn’t get any more than one incoming — I’m setting the bar at one minimum, with Jules Ahoka on board — I’m fine with that. If nothing else, it would give the opportunity for players like Chris Rigg, who’s to constantly fight for space in the squad.
In honesty, it’ll maybe be a couple at most, though I know we were reported as wanting up to five. The issue is that Sunderland are trying to work out how much the market has inflated by. The market values of 2025 are certainly not that of 2026, that’s for sure.
I’m more concerned about being the focus from some of the big sides, and the very last thing we need is a great big Noah Sadiki-shaped hole to fill with 37 minutes of the window left.
In the last ten years, almost £3 billion has been spent by the six ‘largest’ clubs on players from the fourteen other teams in the division, so losing someone is a constant possibility. That’s worrying.
Jenson Seelt may go out on loan, which is great for him. Abdoullah Ba’s failed move to Peterborough means he needs to get a shift on, ditto Aji Alese, Alan Browne and Hemir, too.
Anything else? Just please trust in Florent Ghisolfi. He’s got this, and you should all remember that. It’s probably why we’ll all be looking at a scarf pic of some unknown European baller seven days from now.
Ian Clark says…
I’ve every confidence that we’ll sign a left-footed right winger who can go straight into the starting line up once Régis Le Bris trusts he has the right connections with his team mates, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t Geny Catamo or Matías Soulé.
Florent Ghisolfi and the club before him have a habit of moving quickly for someone they really like who suddenly becomes available. I’ve no idea who this will be, mind!
I think they’ll also get a left-sided centre back and versatile forward. Both could be young-ish players looking for a step up into the Premier League.
Given deadline day last year, expect the unexpected. Brian Brobbey, Lutsharel Geertruida and Bertrand Traoré all arrived out of the blue on the final day last year, so there could be some surprises. Nice ones, hopefully.
I’m confident we’ll find loan deals for Alan Browne and Jenson Seelt.
Both would suit us for different reasons as neither are going to get much game time — in Browne’s case, any. I’m less confident we’ll find takers for Hemir or Abdoullah Ba, unfortunately. Maybe a loan to a European team but I’m not convinced anyone would want they or agree to pay at least part of their Premier League bonus-boosted wages.
Maybe there’ll be some last-minute loan moves for younger players like Timur Tutierov and Finn Geragusian.
A busy week for Ghisolfi and company, I reckon.
John Wilson says…
I’m totally confident that if we stay as we are now, we’ll still be fine until the January window.
The fans know the weaker areas and without absolute doubt, so will the club.
If they can’t bring in the positions we’re looking at, it’ll be for a nailed on reason (costs, attitude, potential etc). They know way more than anyone on the outside does and also includes who we’re thinking about offloading.
What do we know?
Alan Browne, Aji Alese and Jenson Seelt could all be in their plans (especially regarding Europe), and if they’re all gone next week (although I realise Seelt is currently in talks), the club know what they’re doing.
I’ve never been so confident in business behind the scenes. Peter Reid’s era started to collapse partly due to poor signings — that isn’t going to happen now.
