REGIS Le Bris reiterated his desire to strengthen his Sunderland squad in "two specific areas" ahead of the transfer deadline a week tomorrow.
Sunderland have added 12 new players to their squad this summer, but Le Bris confirmed this week he wants to finish the window by signing another central defender and a wide attacker.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
The pursuit of a centre-half might now have to ramp up after Dan Ballard suffered a groin injury at Burnley on Saturday, with the Black Cats expecting to discover the severity of the problem on Monday.
Jhon Lucumi is Sunderland's leading defensive transfer target.
But Ballard's injury won't change Le Bris' thinking when it comes to Jenson Seelt, who could still leave on loan in the final week of the window.
RECOMMENDED READING:
Seelt started the first game of the season against West Ham and came off the bench to replace Ballard at Burnley.
But with Nordi Mukiele having joined the club last week and Luke O'Nien closing in on a return from injury, Le Bris doesn't want to have too many options at centre-half and would prefer for a player like Seelt to benefit from regular football rather than risk playing very little throughout the campaign.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
"We'll see, because we'll have the international break soon and Luke is not too far from joining the team again, so we know that later we'll have this option as well," explained Sunderland's head coach.
"We don't need to have five or six centre-backs. I think it doesn't make sense, because you can have one or two, three spare players. It's useful if you have many suspensions or injuries, but in the continuity of the season, they won't be involved. It's not positive for them, so we'll make this decision later."
Asked for an update on transfers and whether Ballard's injury could influence their thinking in the final week of the window, Le Bris said: "I think we have our plans, the way we want to build the squad.
"We don't have many signatures to do now. We have two specific areas, and I hope we'll have the options before the end of the transfer window."
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Mukiele wasn't involved at Turf Moor as the new recruit continues to get up to speed after joining from PSG last week. He's in contention to make his debut in Tuesday night's Carabao Cup tie against Huddersfield.
Le Bris said: "We were just on the edge [of him being ready to be involved at Burnley], so we'll have this option as well in the future.
"Nordi can play as a centre-back, so we'll wait on Tuesday."