Sunderland concluded their pre-season against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday afternoon
Régis Le Bris admits he does not know if Sunderland will sign a senior central defender before their Premier League campaign begins against West Ham United next Saturday.
It’s an area of the pitch where the Black Cats are light due to Luke O’Nien’s injury and though Reinildo could deputise in that position, Dennis Cirkin’s injury means that then creates another issue at left back. Arthur Masuaku has signed to strengthen that position, but is short of match fitness after leaving Besiktas at the end of last season.
Sunderland are working to try and recruit a new signing but whether they can recruit in time, and whether that player will be ready to face West Ham, is not clear. Le Bris made clear that he is ready to select Jenson Seelt, after the defender concluded an impressive pre-season campaign with a strong display against FC Augsburg on Saturday.
"I don't know," Le Bris said.
"I don't know. We'll see. We've spoken a lot over these last six weeks about the characteristics of the market. It's always difficult because we are not alone in this market. The strong players have many options and solutions. Sometimes it goes quickly, sometimes not. We have to adapt.
"I think if you watched the game against Augsburg yesterday, I think that Jenson did well and Dan Ballard alongside him. At the minute, I think they are both ready to be competitive."
Le Bris said Sunderland could add two central defenders before the end of the window, but it would depend on availability: “We’ll see. For example Jenson did really well during pre-season. It’s always a question of opportunities. We need the right players for our project. We’ll see.”
Le Bris is at this stage not yet sure whether Masuaku and striker Marc Guiu will be fit to face West Ham United and will be assessed in training over the next couple of days.
"We'll see," Le Bris said.
"Every day we will make an assessment of their level and see how far we can push them through the training sessions. Lift the intensity, the contact. If they react well, they can then join the squad. If they don't react well, we wait one day, two day and assess again. So we will see for next week."
Régis Le Bris reflects on Sunderland’s heavy defeat to Rayo Vallecano
While Sunderland fell to a heavy 3-0 defeat against Rayo Vallecano in their final pre-season fixture, Le Bris said he was happy with the work over the course of the weekend as a whole.
"It was a strong opponent ready for La Liga," Le Bris said.
"We need strong opponents to grow, even if our squad was today wasn't well connected for different reasons, it was a good test and it was better for the competitive fixtures to have this experience. We have come through the two games with no injuries, and with more game time for our players. Between Augsburg and Rayo Vallecano, we can feel that the first squad is very connected and this is the main squad for the beginning of the season. And then today, we have three, four, five players ready for this squad as well. It is more difficult for them in this moment because they are connecting with less experienced players and the level is a little below, but they worked [hard] and it was the right decision for next weekend."
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