Mark Ryan says…
I’m quite confident as we close in on the end of the window. Florent Ghisolfi and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus have something up their sleeve — I can sense it.
The changes to the squad were always going to be at the edges, not the core, and the priority was always improving the quality of depth.
Adding Dayann Méthalie goes a long way towards that and he improves the overall flexibility of the squad more than many realise. Jules Ahoka might be “one for the future”, but that was the word on Chemsdine Talbi a year
ago, and he transitioned faster than anyone expected.
I’ve gone back and forth all summer about whether or not a right winger is absolutely necessary, but Saturday has me on the Geny Catamo train.
I say “pay the release clause to get him in”, but I understand that might not be reasonable from an SCR perspective. If it’s not, get a reasonably high-level alternative at the price we’re willing to pay, but get it done. I’m also starting to get on the left centre back bandwagon, but I still think Methalie makes Reinildo a decent alternative there if necessary.
Alan Browne is even more surplus with Ahoka in the fold, and there’s got to be a way to move Abdoullah Ba out.
I actually like Ba more than most, but it’s gone on far too long. Same with Hemir. I’d love Aji Alese to stick around, stay healthy and prove he’s a Premier League player, but I want him to get a chance to play, so I wouldn’t mind if he was moved on as well.
I have a feeling Catamo or a right winger to be named later gets sorted out of the blue on Wednesday or Thursday. Deadline day will be bigger than expected — we sign a hybrid attacking player, a loan defender, an English goalkeeper (and loan out Melker Ellborg) and someone no one saw coming.
Matthew Donne says…
In Florent Ghisolfi I trust.
We don’t work in the ‘usual’ ways compared to other sides and we’ve shown time and time again that the patient build up with transfers and not jumping into deals two-footed or hastily has worked wonders.
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Ghisolfi have definitely earned the right to handle incomings however they see fit, and the fanbase just needs to have some patience and trust the process.
Max Steel says…
My confidence levels are very much slap bang in the middle.
They’re working on the gaping hole at right wing but the continuous conflicting reports in our pursuit of Geny Catamo are hard to decipher, so I think there may be some work to do still on that deal. Ideally you’d like a deal for a right winger to go through this week to give the fanbase and squad a good boost in the hope of a positive week, ending with a good result at the weekend.
I still think there’s a need for an Eliezer Mayenda replacement; a forward that can play in multiple positions but offer something that we don’t currently have, and I do take some confidence that under Ghisolfi, deals normally come out of the blue and our work gets done behind the scenes.
On outgoings, I think it’s important we find a good solution for Jenson Seelt. The club clearly likes him so finding him a good loan deal can set him up for a good season.
I’d be looking to move Alan Browne on permanently. I don’t think it’s a good thing for the player constantly coming back in the summer wondering where his next move is going to be, especially for someone like Browne who’s good enough to play somewhere regularly.
I’d also like to find a good loan for Trey Samuel-Ogunsuyi. I think he may have learned all he needs to learn from U21 football, and getting him back out in men’s football somewhere will benefit him.
Owen Sara says…
A left-sided centre back is a must, alongside two left-footed wingers.
We’ve been linked with Matías Soulé and Geny Catamo, so hopefully one of those gets over the line. A young rotation striker that can play across the forward line could kill two birds with one stone here too.
In terms of departures, Jenson Seelt, Alan Browne, Hemir and Abdoullah Ba should all go out on permanent deals for me.
There is also bound to be one or two surprise deals — as we have seen with Jules Ahoka — and last summer that there were no reports about until they were over the line. I also see us breaking our transfer record on an attacking player, whether that’s Catamo or Soulé or somebody else we’re yet to be linked to.
I’m very surprised there have been no cheeky late bids in for Noah Sadiki in particular.
We know there was interest before we signed him and links to Manchester United have gone quiet, who we know are actively looking for midfielders. It’s a surprise there’s been no noise surrounding an Enzo Le Fée exit either, and we may see a late bid come in from one of the European giants for him too.
We’ll definitely see outgoings confirmed before any incomings are confirmed in order to free up space in the squad.
One thing is for sure: it’s going to be a very busy and exciting conclusion to the transfer window.
Phil West says…
I’m reasonably hopeful and I’m still fairly confident that Florent Ghisolfi remains ice cool under any late pressure, with his plans holding firm, realistic targets in mind and negotiations progressing well, but in reality, who knows?
The mystery element is what keeps us all hooked and occasionally gets us flapping. I just hope we don’t find ourselves getting lured into a Supermarket Sweep-style trolley dash during the final days, frantically searching high and low for players if our primary targets don’t sign on the dotted line.
In the meantime, let’s focus on the positives. Dayann Méthalie is already in the building and young Congolese midfield prospect Jules Ahoka has also joined on a permanent deal, so in terms of what we need, here goes…
A right winger. Ideally with a race-ready engine, a seven-speed gearbox, an accurate cross, an eye for goal, and the willingness to beat a man when driving towards the opposition goal. Many names have been linked and none have signed as yet, but it’s something that we can’t afford to neglect.
Our issues on the flanks are no secret.
They were laid bare once again at Ipswich and despite various measures being implemented in recent games, we’ve not fully cracked it yet and we need to in order to become more of an all-round threat in an attacking sense and to take the pressure off the rawer players on which we’ve often been reliant. High priority, for me.
I also think a third striker would be handy, as well as a central defender.
The former would hopefully give us something different to back up Wilson Isidor and Brian Brobbey; the latter would be recruited with the aim of giving us greater depth amid ongoing fitness concerns surrounding Omar Alderete and Dan Ballard. Giving Jenson Seelt the security of a new deal before potentially loaning him out makes a lot of sense, but we do need a quality frontline centre back in there, I feel.
Plenty of work to do. Not a tremendous amount of time in which to do it. A tough-looking run of games to come before our European adventure begins, and a squad that’ll need to be at maximum capacity in order to deal with that.
Buckle up. It won’t be dull.
Tom Albrighton says…
For me, the confidence levels sit on the fence and I think this week needs to be a positive week for the club across the board, hopefully culminating in three points on Sunday.
As familiar issues set in it is becoming clear that the disparity between Trai Hume working well on the right wing compared to when he doesn’t is too great for the squad to handle and when it doesn’t function leaves us hindered and unbalanced.
It goes without saying then that the top of my wish list would be a right winger, but with the continued protraction on the potential signing of Geny Catamo one would be for giving for being cautious as to whether Sunderland do eventually land their man.
To not land Catamo would be one thing but I would hope at least the club would land a right winger regardless to add some much-needed balance to the side when the Hume experiment reaches its sell-by date.
Another wish would be for another centre back, again due to the marked drop in quality we see from Nordi Mukiele down to his next deputy in Luke O’Nien.
If Sunderland wish to build on two seasons of brilliant work, these are the two areas in which most fans will expect us to rectify our deficiencies, and whilst I would be more inclined to back the club than back against them, time may run us ragged unless decisions are made one way or another.
