Aston Villa and Wolves have budgets Sunderland can only dream off – so David Moyes faces a challenge bringing Sam Gallagher to the Stadium of Light.
David Moyes’ claims that Sunderland are the ‘biggest’ club in the Championship will surely elicit quite a sharp response from fans of Leeds United, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, as reported by the Sunderland Echo.
However, you wonder whether this is a clever ploy by the Scotsman to entice potential targets to the Stadium of Light this summer as The Black Cats aim to build a squad capable of escaping the second tier at the first attempt.
“Sunderland will be the biggest club in Championship, and that should help us attract players,” Moyes claimed, potentially making a rod for his own back. After all, his inability to bring a stream of top class players to Manchester United in the summer of 2013 certainly damaged his previously strong reputation in the transfer market.
And with The Sun reporting that Sunderland face a challenge luring Southampton striker Sam Gallagher to the Stadium of Light, Moyes has the ideal opportunity to back up his ambitious claims.
The 21-year-old hit 12 goals on loan at relegated Blackburn Rovers in the season just gone. And his strength in the air and work rate means he could be an astute replacement for the seemingly irreplaceable Jermain Defoe.
Wealthy competition
However, The Sun add that Wolves and Aston Villa are also interested in the improving targetman. And with the Midlands duo backed by wealthy Chinese investors who have made clear that promotion to the Premier League is the primary target, debt-ridden, crisis-stricken Sunderland could be seen as fighting a losing battle.
Although Wolves and Villa finished in the bottom half of the Championship, it appears that they have the infrastructure and the budget to fight for the top six next season.
However, signing Gallagher would help Moyes to piece together his status as one of the British game’s most astute transfer market operators while also confirming that Sunderland do indeed possess some semblence of pulling power.
And it appears he’s certainly laid the platform for an aggressive recruitment strategy.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
