Sunderland could have an interesting decision to make in the January transfer window
Régis Le Bris has said that Sunderland are not currently exploring the possibility of bringing Marc Guiu back from Chelsea in the January transfer window.
However, the head coach has made clear his admiration for the former Barcelona youngster and left the door open to a deal if circumstances change between now and then. Chelsea requested the recall of Guiu from his season-long loan after Liam Delap suffered a major injury in the early weeks of the season, with Sunderland agreeing once they had reached a deal with Ajax to sign Brian Brobbey. Guiu's limited game time led to reports that Sunderland and the player were open to a January return.
Guiu has since played a greater role for Enzo Maresca's side, and scored in the 5-1 Champions League win over Ajax on Wednesday night. However, Delap is due back from an injury in the coming weeks and having played already for two clubs this season, Guiu cannot represent another. As it stands, Sunderland are not looking for a striker - Le Bris has been pleased with Wilson Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda and remains very confident that Brobbey will show his quality as he adjusts to the Premier League.
"Too early to say," Le Bris said of those Guiu claims.
"The problem for him is he's played for Sunderland and Chelsea, so if he has to go on loan it's only for Sunderland, so it might be the only choice but it's up to us to decide.
"At the minute we have good strikers and we don't need anything at the minute. Brian is working really well. He didn't get an opportunity to start and he connected with the squad a bit late, so when you don't start with the squad it's a bit more difficult to find your references with your teammates.
"But I'm happy and pleased with his behaviour and I have no doubt about his ability to help the squad."
Le Bris nevertheless made clear his admiration of the 19-year-old and believes that Chelsea are benefiting from the work he did during his weeks on Wearside.
“I really liked the relationship with him," Le Bris said.
"You can feel that he's really coachable. He wants to learn, he wants to develop himself and he wants to connect with people. So, I really appreciated this part of his personality. But his fitness level wasn't good at that moment. So, the main part was to give him the opportunity to train with the squad, work in the gym. And we worked for Chelsea because I believe that now he's ready. But it wasn't the case with us.
"He's a really good footballer, really committed, complete forward, who can run in behind, hold the ball, defend really well and counter-press really strong. A good forward."
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Sunderland injury update ahead of Chelsea test
Earlier in his press conference, Le Bris had revealed that Omar Alderete will miss Sunderland’s clash with Chelsea due to a concussion.
Alderete has featured in every Premier League game so far this season since making his debut on opening day from the bench against West Ham United, but will be absent from the squad at Stamford Bridge. Le Bris said that this is his only fresh injury concern for the game. Alderete is also a doubt to face Everton at the Stadium of Light a week on Monday night.
Le Bris said: “The only one [injury concern]. is Omar - he is under concussions protocols. He is having daily assessments - we’ll keep monitoring him. We will see if he can make Everton.”
Reinildo is on standby to come back into the starting XI having served his three-game suspension for a red card picked up against Aston Villa. Leo Hjelde, Aji Alese, Romaine Mundle and Dennis Cirkin remain sidelined with injury.
Le Bris also allayed any fears that Noah Sadiki would miss the game having struggled again with his ankle in the latter stages of the 2-0 win over Wolves. Sadiki had been a doubt for the game after suffering an ankle sprain while on international duty with DR Congo, but has trained fully this week and is available for selection.
Le Bris said: “He recovered really quickly. I was a bit worried after the game against Wolves but he has trained fully this week. He is young, flexible, and ready to play.”
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