Kristjaan Speakman has been discussing Sunderland’s transformative summer transfer window
Kristjaan Speakman has praised the impact of Florent Ghisolfi after the club’s ambitious summer transfer window.
Ghisolfi arrived as the club’s new director of football following promotion to the Premier League, and worked closely with sporting director Speakman as the Black Cats spent an estimated £150 million revamping the squad to prepare for the demands of Premier League football.
Speakman says individual roles are still being fully defined behind the scenes as a result of the changes but believes that the additional expertise has been vital to the work that Sunderland have been able to do, and is relishing further building those relationships in the months ahead.
“As I said [when talking about the squad], if you're moving into the Premier League, you have to change everything and you have to adapt really, really quickly,” Speakman said.
“And that's for every single person in the business, including myself. So going into the Premier League, I was under no illusions that we had to expand and develop our executive function. And I'll be the first person to support that. I think Flo coming in, like I said, different experiences, different backgrounds, different languages, different perspectives. And then, like I said, but the same core beliefs in we understand what Sunderland is and what we're doing. It enables us to work in multiple arenas at the same time, which we weren't able to do before, really, to that level.
“So we wouldn't have been able to do everything we've done in the window we've done if we hadn't changed and we hadn't adapted. Moving forward, we've got to use all the resources, like I said, to make sure that we can give the team the best support and the club the best support. It's an evolving process because it's quite new but everything today has been really, really positive. And like I said, I think you see that because of the decisions and the action and the output.”
Kristjaan Speakman discusses Sunderland’s summer transfer business
Ghisolfi’s arrival has been part of a broader raft of changes behind the scenes, which Speakman believes leaves the organisation as a whole better placed for top-tier football.
“So for us, it's been about trying to adjust and adapt really, really quickly after the final.” Speakman said.
“Make sure we understand what we're doing, why we're doing it, where we're going. Are we planned and aligned? I think once you're planned and aligned, you can then be really quick and effective in the market.
“Flo coming on board has been a huge positive for us because we've been then able to do multiple deals at the same time because we've got more capability. And also what you've then got is you've got a really healthy mix of different opinions and discussions around players that you can quite quickly get to a consensus on, right, this is what we're going for. We're really pleased with the output and I think we've got some really, really strong players for the Premier League who supporters are going to enjoy watching.
“I think at the minute everyone's super excited, which is exactly what we want,” he added.
“Everyone's enthused by the club. I think there's a lot of discussion nationally and internationally about where the team's at, the direction of travel the club's going on. That's where we always wanted the club to be. But time will tell. Three games, we've obviously won two games. The team's performed really well, but we have to perform really well over a much bigger tranche of games, and that's where obviously the reflections will take place. We've got every confidence in Regis signing a new contract, which is hugely important for us. A lot of confidence in the coaching team. We've built out the backroom team, if you like, and the support services to make sure that we can try to be consistent on and off the pitch, and hopefully we'll start at the end of the season reflecting on a positive. outcome.”
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