On the day the transfer window opens, it appears that Sunderland have most of their business done already, have Sunderland rushed into making their new signings? Or has it been an astute piece of business from Steve Bruce and Niall Quinn?
Steve Bruce and Niall Quinn have wasted no time in strengthening their squad for the upcoming Premier League season, signing Connor Wickham, Craig Gardner, Seb Larsson and Ji Dong-Won in the space of a few days. The signings of Craig Gardner and Connor Wickham in particular are amazingly good signings for the Black Cats, Gardner was Birmingham City’s outstanding player last season ending as their top goal scorer with 10 goals, and Wickham was allegedly being chased by a host of big name clubs including the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham, so it’s pretty impressive that Sunderland managed to tie up a deal for the promising youngster.
These two deals will probably surprise a lot of people, but in reality they shouldn’t, had it not been for a ridiculous amount of injuries between January and May, and the loss of top goal scorer Darren Bent, Sunderland could have finished in the top eight last season. Bruce has shown excellent awareness in the transfer market in the past, and has wasted no time in going to get the men he wants once more. Bruce knew full well that Gardner would be a target for the rival clubs around Sunderland after the midfielder’s great performances for Birmingham last season, and after the departure of Jordan Henderson he’s brought in an ideal replacement.
The signing of Connor Wickham is slightly more impressive; some pretty big clubs had been sniffing around Wickham but had never actually made a concrete offer. Bruce must have shown Wickham that he could be a big part of Sunderland in the immediate future; it appears that Wickham is a smart young lad as this move gives him an opportunity he may not have had at a bigger club. Wickham has shown at Ipswich that he’s got bags of potential, but he needs to compete week in week out at the top level for this potential to come through, had he gone to Arsenal or Tottenham it’s more than likely he wouldn’t get that much time on the pitch to show what he can do. With Sunderland, he knows that if he stays fit there’s a chance he could end up playing 40 games next season, competing at the highest level and I’m looking forward to seeing how this boy develops, because from what I’ve seen it looks like he could turn out to be a great player in the future.
Steve Bruce must have looked at last season and acknowledged that without Darren Bent, Sunderland were a shade of the team they were before he moved to Aston Villa. Connor Wickham won’t be expected to pick up where Bent left off, but potentially he could be a very good replacement for him. If Wickham can combine with Asamoah Gyan to get 20-25 goals between them next season, they will have done their job, and with the signing of Gardner, who appears to be a goal scoring midfielder, things appear to be looking up for Sunderland in the attacking department, an area which they struggled with once Bent departed last January.
Bruce is showing that he’s learnt from his mentor Sir Alex Ferguson, Bruce has seen a weakness in his side so he’s gone out and got Gardner and Wickham within the space of a couple of days, Seb Larsson will also be a notable improvement to Bruce’s squad. Like Sir Alex, Steve Bruce did not muck about, he’s made a good offer for the players he wanted and got the deals through before anybody else could come in and snatch the players from him. Steve Bruce has also given himself an advantage over managers that are still planning who they want to bring in, having done most of his business before pre season starts, the new players will have plenty of time to get to know their new teammates and blend into their new club.
Steve Bruce’s early exploits in the transfer market have shown that he and Niall Quinn are serious about taking Sunderland to the next level, they appear to have the money for it, they’ve also got the luxury of a stadium that seats 49,000 people, it seems that if they could get the right players in, they’ll be challenging for Europe next season, and with a little bit of luck they may even be in with a shout of winning the League Cup next year. The departure of Bent definitely hurt Sunderland, but if they invest wisely Sunderland may be able to get together a group of players that aren’t so reliable on one man, if they can achieve this they’ll be a stronger team for it and I believe these signings are definitely a step in the right direction for Sunderland Football Club.
If Sunderland can get in one more centre back and possibly a winger, they will have a pretty good starting XI on their hands. If Sunderland get a bit of luck with injuries and manage to keep their key players through until the end of next season, Sunderland will be one of the better mid table teams in the league. I believe that if Bruce and Quinn can keep this successful partnership between themselves going, it won’t be long before Sunderland may be expected to be qualifying for Europe year in year out, and from then on the sky’s the limit.
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