Parky playing the waiting game in bid to boost Black Cats squad
Phil Parkinson is happy to remain patient in the transfer market, after being forced to put a potential new addition on the back-burner this week.
The Black Cats boss remains eager to make one or two additions to his squad beforethetransferwindowshuts.
While the international market closes on Monday, EFL and Premier League clubs can do business with each other until October 16th.
Parkinson wants cover for Denver Hume at left wingback, while he is also open to adding another central defender after Morgan Feeney suffered a serious hamstring injury that will keep him out of action for four months.
A potential addition travelled to the Academy of Light this week for a fitness assessment, but the results of that have put an end to the prospect of an immediate deal.
Parkinson, meanwhile, also revealed that he is still waiting for a definitive answer on potential loan additions who could yet remain at their parent club beyond the end of the window.
H e h a s b e e n i n s i s te nt th roug h out th e su m m e r months that he will not make any short-term additions unless he can see the player coming straight into his starting XI and improving it considerably.
“We know what we'd like to do and it's more and less what I say all the time,” Parkinson said.
“We did have a player up for an assessment this week
but medically he wasn't quite right, so we've put that on the back-burner.
“There are one or two loan players who we identified right at the very start of the summer, but whose parent clubs are still umming and ahing about whether they are going to let them out.
“And with the loans, any young player we've got to be sure that they are significantly
better than what we've got at the club.
“We've got Jack [Diamond], we've got Dan [Neil], Benji [Kimpioka] has signed his contract.
“We see a route for these players into our first team, so it's pointless bringing them in [unless they will play].
“We're looking, but we've got a decent squad and the competition is decent at the moment.”
The latter point is key, with Parkinson content that even in the positions where he wants to make further additions, the performances of those in possession of the shirt means it is not a short-term necessity.
With that in mind, he is happy to play a waiting game on potential targets.
The Black Cats boss also conceded that while he does not expect it to prevent him entirely from doing further business in the window, last week’s announcement that EFL clubs could face a six-week wait to get fans back into grounds has had an impact.
T h e G ove r n m e nt h ave urged the Premier League to provide financial support to the football league pyramid, but no agreement has yet been reached.
“Obviously, I don't think anyone can hide away from the fact that the announcement last week, that crowds weren't coming into the ground for a prolonged period of time, has knocked everybody,” said Parkinson.
“There is a situation where we are all waiting to see what willhappen, whether there will be a bail-out.
“Every club is the same at the moment.”