After winning promotion back to the Premier League, Sunderland are being linked with a whole host of names ahead of the summer transfer window opening.
Now that the promotion celebrations have died down, Regis Le Bris can begin to plan for Sunderland’s return to the Premier League.
Sunderland have been linked with Jordan Henderson, who could make a sensational return to the Stadium of Light 15 years after leaving.
The Black Cats have also placed winger Kwame Poku on their radar after his stellar campaign in League One with Peterborough United.
It’s become clear that Le Bris will need to add firepower to his forward line if his side is to stay up, and there’s one man who should be on their radar.
Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images
Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images
Sunderland should launch a move for Jamie Vardy to repeat Jermain Defoe masterstroke
In January 2015, Sunderland famously signed Premier League legend Jermain Defoe, who quickly became a cult hero at the Stadium of Light.
After a slow start in front of goal under Dick Advocaat, it was under Sam Allardyce in 2015/16 when the North East giants witnessed his incredible scoring powers.
The lethal finisher plundered 15 Premier League goals during that campaign as Sunderland pulled off an incredible escape.
In the following season, he even matched that total, but it wasn’t enough for them to stay up, as they suffered relegation in 2016/17.
When Defoe signed for Sunderland, also returning briefly during the 2021/22 campaign, he was coming towards the end of his career, but his top-level experience was invaluable.
Now that Jamie Vardy is about to become a free agent, the newly-promoted side should repeat that success and snap the Englishman up.
Although he’s 38-years-old and would command big wages, he’s still capable of scoring goals at the highest level, and that is exactly what Sunderland need.
Vardy would add vital experience and goals to Sunderland
Vardy is one of the greatest English goal scorers of all time. With 145 Premier League goals to his name, he knows where the net is.
Last season, the man with a Premier League title and an FA Cup in his trophy cabinet plundered nine goals in a struggling Leicester City side.
So, with Sunderland’s striking options of Wilson Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda boasting no top-flight appearances between them, Vardy could be an incredible mentor for a young team.
Just on a one-year contract, it makes perfect sense for Le Bris to snap up the lethal finisher, who still has more to give at the highest level.