VAR controversy during Sunderland 1-1 Everton as Louis-Dreyfus delivers interview
Sunderland have been praised for the manner in which they have navigated PSR of late.
Despite investing heavily during the summer transfer window, Sunderland should still be “good to go” for even more spending, according to a football finance expert.
Following their promotion back to the Premier League in May, the Black Cats wasted little time in embarking an ambitious and wide-reaching recruitment drive, signing 14 new players and spending in excess of £150 million.
So far, their bold strategy in the transfer market has served them well, with Regis Le Bris’ men currently sat fourth in the table having taken 18 points from their opening 10 matches.
And while there are still no clear indications as to the extent to which Sunderland plan on adding to their squad again in the January window, Rob Wilson, a football finance expert and programme director at the University Campus of Football Business, has suggested that they still have plenty of PSR headroom left to utilise, should they wish to do so.
What has been said about Sunderland’s PSR position ahead of January transfer window?
Speaking to The i Paper, Wilson explained: “Sunderland are one of the first clubs that have recognised the importance of gamifying PSR. I’m currently doing a body of work on how you work your way around PSR and the best strategy is you prepare yourselves for your spending before you get promoted and then it turns it into a three to five-year project.
“Fans would probably go nuts about that if you told them about it because they want instant success but when you stand back and look at it, it’s actually really sensible. It’s what Sunderland have done and it might become a blueprint that others follow.”
Wilson also added that he is of the opinion Sunderland are “good to go” for further spending – especially now relegation looks to be a much fainter threat following their stellar start to the new campaign.
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What has Kyril Louis-Dreyfus said about Sunderland’s January transfer plans following positive start to new Premier League season?
During a recent interview with Sky Sports, when asked about Sunderland’s recruitment strategy and the potential for more spending in January, owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus said: “I think the stats showed to us that unless you do something extraordinary you're likely going to go back to the Championship. For us, we didn't really set ourselves a budget in terms of the money we want to spend - we had an ambition to try and bring in the players we want and fortunately a lot of the deals we wanted to do we were able to conclude them, and as a result of that the spend in the end was big, but most importantly we got the players that we wanted.
“I would say definitely a little bit [that the great start could affect Sunderland’s approach in January] because obviously if we're in the bottom three by Christmas or we're in the top six by Christmas that changes the ambition a little bit. We're currently preparing for all scenarios but we've been doing that since the summer, so hopefully we'll be going into the January window with a top ten finish in mind and we will prepare and execute the transfer window to give us the best chance.”
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