Black Cats unlikely to sign defender before deadline
Phil Parkinson admits he is unlikely, at this stage, to add one of his main defensive targets to the Sunderland squad before this evening’s transfer deadline.
Parkinson revealed earlier this month that he was tracking ‘one or two’ players who had been on his radar right from the beginning of the summer, in the hope that their parentclubsmightmakethem available in the latter stages of the window.
Sunderland’sneedfor reinforcementswasheightenedby a medium-term injury to Morgan Feeney, and became even more critical over the international break.
After suffering a serious knee injury while on duty with Kosovo U21s, Arbenit Xhemajli will not play again this season.
S i tu at io n s ca n c h a n ge quickly in the transfer market, and particularly in its closing stages, but for now the Black Cats boss has suggested that the arrival of a free agent next week is the more likely option.
Some supporters wonderedwhetherXhemajlicould be left off the club’s squad list for the season, allowing wages to be freed up and committed towards a reinforcement.
The rules are at best vague on that front, and clubs have faced confusion throughout the summer in that regard.
However, even freeing up a small wage would not necessarily make a major difference when it comes to the loan targets Parkinson had in mind.
A free agent could possibly be a different matter.
“Arbenit’s injury certainly changed our thought process in terms of the transfer market,” Parkinson explained.
“However,theloanmarket, certainly the players we had targeted within it, is proving a difficult one.
“The money we can offer in terms of the salary cap is not enough to tempt clubs to come to us.
“Because of that, I think managers are looking at it and saying, 'well, we've got a lot of games coming up and it's only ten weeks until the next transfer window. Let's just keep our squads together’.
“If we could offer money
wheretheclub's ownerswould look at it and say, 'well that's worthwhile because it would save us X amount of money', [it might happen] but we can't do that because of the cap.
“So that's proved difficult in terms of the loan players from Championship and Premier League clubs who have that quality from playing at that level.
“There are players who are out of contract and obviously the transfer window doesn't affect that at all.
“Friday is another window closing, but there are a group of players who would still be available to us.”
Central defence is not the only area of concern.
There has long been unease amongst the club’s support about the lack of cover and competition for Denver Hume,whohasbeenoneofthe most impressive performers in the early stages of the season.
It’s a position Parkinson has long been eager to bolster, too, and an injury (albeit minor) in training for Hume this week has underlined the potential problem.
Parkinson had come close a fortnight ago to making an addition, with a player visiting the Academy of Light. The results of the physical assessment tests that followed, Parkinson conceded, had forced the deal to go ‘on the back burner’.
It’s still an area of interest in terms of the market, but the general uncertainty amongst league clubs is not helping.
Clubs met yesterday to discuss a £50 million bail-out offer from the Premier League.
“That is a position we've been looking at,” Parkinson said.
“We do have one or two other players in the squad who can play there, as we've spoken about previously, but it is a numbers game as well and we've got to look at everything.
“There's also the problem as well where all clubs are nervous about adding any more expenditure.
“We're working on talking to players and, as I've said, there are that group who are out of contract. Yes there is the deadline for players contracted to other clubs, but it doesn't mean necessarily that it's the end.
“Next week the picture could look a little clearer financially as well.
“Everybody is eagerly waiting to see what level of help might be available to us.”
With four league goals scored in four games, the forward line is the final position where the Black Cats support wouldbereassuredbyanother addition.
Parkinson did not rule it out entirely on Thursday, but it seems unlikely.
“If we were to get one in, then it would have to be significantly better than what we've got,” Parkinson said.
“We've scored goals in the cup competitions, we didn't score against Charlton (Athletic) but we created chances and the runs that our strikers made were excellent.
“I believe we've got front players who will score goals.
“As everyone knows, strikers cost significant amounts of money because everyone wants them.
“A young, unproven Premier League striker from the loan market has got to be better than both our young and senior players. Clubs will let them come to you if they can see a pathway and that they're going to get gametime.
“For us to offer that, we need to know in our mind that they're better than what we've got.”
Outgoings are also unlikely, with Parkinson conceding that there has been no interest in Aiden McGeady.
The Black Cats boss will not change his decision to exclude McGeady from the first team, even if no move materialises.
“Aiden is training with the U23s at the moment, I’m not aware of any calls for him,” he said.
"He’s probably in that situationwhereclubsdon’thavethe money to bring him in, for the reasons I’ve outlined. I stand by what I said before. You’ve got the youngsters who have had a taste of it, done well and are ready to play their part.”