Sunderland should look to League One for potential signings this January.
Sunderland have endured a nightmare start to the Championship season and look more likely to be relegated at this stage than win promotion.
Manager Simon Grayson has plenty of work to do, but a look at their squad suggests his work is cut out.
Sunderland are low on goalscoring threats and stuck with many players who are simply past it, and no longer good enough – see Darron Gibson and Lee Cattermole.
If Sunderland are to kick on, they need younger, hungrier players.
This is why looking to sign up top talents from League One is a smart option.
While this would be a useful strategy in case of relegation, it should be enough to help them avoid the drop.
Nottingham Forest did this last year, swooping for Bolton’s Zach Clough, who made a vital impact for them in the run in to help them stave off the drop.
Sunderland are a big club in comparison to many League One sides and should be able to attract the cream of the crop.
If they started going after unwanted Premier League players, or past it has-beens, they will only be repeating their past failures.
While they looked to League One in the summer to sign James Vaughan, he is 29 and may have peaked last season for Bury.
The Black Cats need players who are on the way up, and need a defined strategy if they are to build for the future, whichever division they find themselves in next season.
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