With the January transfer window now open, where will Sunderland be looking to improve their squad?
As they battle to stop themselves from relegation to the Championship, Sunderland manager David Moyes will be desperate to improve his squad during the January transfer window. Despite spending millions under former bosses Dick Advocaat and Sam Allardyce, the Black Cats are still threatened by relegation, and now are in need of some new blood to jump start their season.
With that in mind, we take a look at three areas Sunderland will be looking to add to this month, as the race to stay in the Premier League hots up.
Sunderland manager David Moyes
A New Right-Back
Sunderland have had plenty of defensive problems this season, despite being able to name a number of individually talented players in their back line. One highlight for the Black Cats has been left-back, Patrick Van Aanholt, whose pace and attacking ability has been vital at times for Moyes’ side. If Sunderland could counter this with another attacking full-back on the right, they may just be able to create more from the back; something that could be important towards the end of the season. Looking abroad, Sunderland could turn their attention to highly-rated Feyenoord youngster, Rick Karsdorp, or PSV’s Santiago Arias, to instil more attacking threat down the right hand side.
Feyenoord’s Rick Karsdorp
An Attacking Midfielder
Sunderland need to find some more goals from somewhere, and one way they could get around this is by looking to recruit a creative goal-scoring midfielder. With players like this being hard to come by, especially on the kind of budget Sunderland will be operating on, David Moyes may well be forced to once again look abroad. AC Milan midfielder Keisuke Honda could be available for a cut price, and could offer just the kind of attacking threat Sunderland have been lacking from the centre of their midfield this season.
AC Milan’s Keisuke Honda
An Attacking Winger
With Jermain Defoe looking like staying with the club this month, Sunderland are likely to be focusing on strengthening their other attacking positions, other than the central striking role. In desperate need of goals, and a bit more width when playing 4-3-3, Sunderland may well look to bring in a new goal-scoring winger. However, their budget won’t allow the club to be able to compete for expensive signings, and may be forced to look for cheap options, such as free agents. One available player is the former Schalke 04 winger, Jefferson Farfan. The Peruvian is one of the most high-profile names on the list of freebies having scored nearly 100 goals in the Dutch and German leagues.
Jefferson Farfan for Peru
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