Sunderland brought in ten players during the summer transfer window.
Speaking on BBC Match of the Day 2 Extra, former Sunderland midfielder Kevin Kilbane has claimed manager David Moyes did not sign the players he wanted in the transfer window.
The former Everton and Manchester United boss took charge at the Stadium of Light this summer after Sam Allardyce departed to take charge of England.
He made 10 signings in the transfer window in total but was largely met with frustration in his attempts to secure his main targets, including sufficient cover for Jermain Defoe.
Sunderland manager David Moyes
Instead, he was forced to utilise the free transfer market, with the likes of Victor Anichebe, Steven Pienaar and Mika all arriving in the North East.
Their captures were arguably not the ones the club were looking for to help them kick on and Kilbane says he feels Moyes missed out on the men he wanted.
“I’m not denying that [he’s brought players in] but were they the big players he wanted? I would say no,” he told BBC Sport.
“They were almost like signings he made because he needed bodies in. I think he’s thought I’ve only got a short amount of time here, I’ve got to get these people in.”
Sunderland manager David Moyes with Sunderland’s Steven Pienaar
The former midfielder has also predicted that Moyes will have targets planned for the January transfer window.
The Black Cats were highly successful in the same period last season, as signings such as Lamine Kone and Jan Kirchhoff arrived and helped them turn around their fortunes.
Given their start to this season, they have gone ten games without a win so far; another strong winter window may be needed to help them avoid relegation again this year.
And Kilbane believes that Moyes will have better targets in mind than what he managed in the summer.
“They aren’t bad players, but the point is, you would think going into this January window, he has better targets long-term,” he added.
“He can do the groundwork, speak to the agent, speak to the player, speak to the people around them, speak to the clubs and get these targets into the club and he didn’t have time to do that.”
Sunderland manager David Moyes
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