The additions Cats must land as window enters vital final week
What does Lee Johnson need to be a success at Sunderland in the long term?
It's a long list and much, if not all, flows from the approval of Kyril Louis-Dreyfus' takeover. Sunderland's future depends on a period of stability and investment, lifting areas of the club that have been woefully underpowered in the Madrox era.
Whether this take over produces that is the question that ultimately defines the direction of travel on Wearside.
Yet this current season remains firmly in play, and Sunderland have just over a week to deliver the two additions Johnson clearly needs to make a short-term impact.
In terms of the January window, Johnson has already made it clear that the approval of the takeover will make little to no difference.
The salary cap significantly limits investment in terms of wages, an issue difficult to bridge even when it comes to permanent deals. The cap does not prevent you from spending on fees, but logic follows that investing a significant sum on a player is also likely to demanda reasonable investment in wages.
Johnson has cut a relaxed figure talking transfers throughout the window, but had an honest admission when speaking on Friday.
"I don't think we've got the option to spend an awful lot of money on a particular position, and we've just got to accept that," he said.
Permanent deals are not necessarily off the table, and the decision to let George Dobson join AFC Wimbledon on loan has kept that a live option. Dobson's departure frees up a space in the squad, and Sunderland can reinvest 70% of the contribution Wimbledon are making to his wages.
That is very clearly a modest sum, but Johnson was of the understanding before that deal that he had a very small amount of wriggle room in terms of the cap.
The arrival of Carl Winchester outlines the scope of any further permanent addition that could arrive at Sunderland. Winchester performed strongly on the club's data analysis, but his contractual status also brought him firmly into the club' s financial parameters.
Madrox's under-investment, allied with the considerable uncertainty and turmoil that has engulfed the club at various stages over the last 18 month, has left Sporting DirectorKristjaanS peak man inheriting a virtually non-existent recruitment department.
In a window where financial challenges make preparation and a strong base of research are more important than ever, Speakman has had a standing start. Sunderland, though, need a boost.
Johnson already has a large squad and is reluctant to fill it much further, eager to ensure he maintains a competitive edge throughout the group. Two clear gaps have opened up in recent weeks, though.
The first, and perhaps the most important, is at left-back.
This would have been low down the list of priorities at the start of the window, with DenverHume' s defensive improvements making him an ideal candidate for the demanding left-back role in the two systems currently being used.
Even in a best-case scenario, though, his hamstring injury leaves him likely to miss seven or eight matches. In his absence, the balance of the side has been affected.
Call umMcFadz ea ni sap layer more comfortable further up the pitch, and that flank has been issue defensively of late.
The issue is that when a more naturally defensive player is put in that position, that they are naturally left-footed affects the attacking balance of a squad with almost exclusively right-footed forwards.
Johnson is a manager who always weighs up positional changes within his own squad (take his recent management of the right-back position, for example), but he has been firm here that the option has to come from outside.
The head coach also needs a forward option.
The chronic lack of pace in the squad will need a summer reboot to be properly addressed, but some steps need to be taken now.
Johnson's trust in Jack Diamond is being rewarded even as his end-product needs refinement, while there have been good signs from Lynden Goo cha nd Aid en O' Brien. Both have made the side look more of a threat, and are being Charlie Wyke into the game.
Yet the addition of another strong runner through central areas will allow Johnson to rotatehis attacking options without overly affecting the ability of his side to stretch the oppositionand maintain some variety in their attacking play.
Johnson has already said he will accept a player 'raw' in their end product if they can deliver that attribute. Given the financial climate outlined, he has made clear, then, that he will work with an untested loan addition.
So the brief for those above him is clear.
One option the Black Cats have is to create more room through outgoings, similar to the Dobson deal.
Danny Graham and Will Grigg would be the obvious candidates for this but the echo es of last January are worth remembering.
There was interest in Grigg then, but nothing that came close to offering an acceptable financial solution for Sunderland on a player who had represented such a major investment. That he is still recovering from a knee problem adds a further layer of complication. Some creative dealing from Speakman would be a big tick in the latter stages of his first window.
The task is an unenviable one, but it's vital Sunderland deliver.
The long-term challenges and questions still hanging over the club can't allow another window to pass without additions who can make a substantive difference arriving.