Sunderland need extra creativity in the final third and Wahbi Khazri could offer precisely that for Simon Grayson.
Simon Grayson has not hidden his disappointment after Sunderland missed out on signing Bournemouth winger Max Gradel.
However, former St Etienne winger Gradel has now returned to Ligue 1 with Toulouse instead, leaving Grayson bemoaning his inability to reunite with a player he worked with to great effect at Elland Road.
“That would have been a big signing for us if we had managed to do it, but he just felt his family wanted to go back to France and that was a disappointment for us,” Grayson said in quotes reported by The Mail.
Therefore, with Gradel slipping through Sunderland’s fingers, the last thing they will want to do now is lose Wahbi Khazri.
The Tunisian winger, who helped the Black Cats pull off an infamous Great Escape from relegation under Sam Allardyce in 2015, did not appear to be remaining at Sunderland this season after they tumbled into the Championship under David Moyes.
However, with two weeks to go until the end of the transfer window, Khazri remains on Wearside and made his first appearance of the season against Sheffield Wednesday in midweek, coming on for the final ten minutes, before featuring for half an hour against Leeds United on Saturday.
Khazri, as he demonstrated early in his Sunderland career, can be a huge asset in a side lacking creativity. There are no other natural wingers in Grayson’s squad and, therefore, the failure to land Gradel means Sunderland should consider Khazri as a useful member of their first-team squad once more.
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