New signings must have desire and hunger – Phil
Phil Parkinson says that any prospective summer summer signings will have to show they have the ‘desire and hunger’ to play for Sunderland.
Parkinson is set to lead an extensive overhaul of the Black Cats’ squad, with a host of first-team players set to depart ahead of the club’s third season in League One.
Kyle Lafferty and Tommy Smith have already left the Stadium of Light and – with ten players set to see their contractsexpireonJune30–it looks set to be a busy summer in the market for Parkinson and the club’s recruitment staff.
Parkinson already has targets in mind, and insists he is keen to ensure that the right charactersarebroughtintothe club this summer – with a willingness to buy into the culture he is attempting to cultivate a key criteria that must be hit.
“We’ve got the opportunity to have a whole pre-season withtheplayersandrecruitthe players and characters we feel willbeimportant,”saidParkinson. “You need the right characters, quality level and type of people around you to get the job done.
“It’s going to be an interesting summer, but I’m confident we’ll recruit the right people and supporters will have a very good team to watch next season.Ifeelwe’resettingaculture in the club - the work ethic required and the desire and hungerthatsupporterswantto see.IfyoupullonaSunderland shirt, you’ve got have a certain type of quality to handle playing on this stage and for our fans to warm to you.
“We’ve got to make sure that we produce a team next year that our fans can relate to and get behind, because when wedidthatinaperiodafterthe turn of the year the support at the SoL was exceptional.”