Championship strugglers Sunderland look set to sign Ben Woodburn from Liverpool and want David Cotterill after his exit from Birmingham City.
Plenty of eyebrows were raised when Chris Coleman admitted that he might not have a single penny to spend in the January transfer window.
Why, the cynics wondered, would Coleman leave his safe and secure job in charge of the Welsh national team to take over a cash-strapped, debt-ridden side glued to the Championship relegation zone with no means of enhancing a poor squad? With the Black Cats bottom of the table as things stand, time will tell whether the 47-year-old has made a huge mistake.
Although a lack of funds is not about to hold him back in the transfer market. Coleman has a rather impressive contact book after spending five years at the helm of Wales, and is set to make the most of it this month.
Because the Northern Echo states that he is confident of pulling off the loan signing of Liverpool prodigy Ben Woodburn in the coming days. Reds boss Jurgen Klopp was wary about letting the 18-year-old leave Anfield, but seemingly trusts Coleman to give him the best chance of progression.
Coleman, after all, knows Woodburn well, handing the attacker his senior Wales debut in September and rewarded by a stunning winner against Austria.
And the Sunderland Echo reports the former Fulham boss could follow up Woodburn’s arrival by landing David Cotterill on a free after his release from Birmingham City last month. Cotterill is another who Coleman knows from his spell in charge of Wales – and would add experience and creativity to an often toothless Black Cats attack.
It is who you know, and Coleman could revive Sunderland’s forward line without spending a penny.
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