Here is what Sunderland’s Sporting director Kristjaan Speakman said on their next transfer

Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman has said they have already turned their ‘attention’ to the January transfer window.

Sunderland are plotting early plans for their winter recruitment as they look to continuously improve their squad. They sit top of the Championship table after their first four fixtures of the new season and are yet to lose.

The Black Cats won 3-1 away at Portsmouth at Fratton Park last time out and have gone into this current international break in confident mood. They are back in action this weekend with a trip to Home Park to face Plymouth Argyle.

Speaking ahead of January, Speakman has said, as per The Northern Echo: “We’ll turn our attention to January, we’ll track the progress of our players and we’ll track the progress of the players we like out there in the market. Then when we get to January, we will make the same set of decisions against the same requirements, which is that we want to keep improving the team.”

He added: “We will continue to keep looking to invest. I don’t think there’s a need to spend money just because there’s a perception that you have money. We can improve through succession planning, and we can also improve the team through external recruitment. We don’t know where we’ll be in January.

“We’ll do our usual set of reviews, our player audits running up to that period, and then we’ll see where we think the need is. Where we think the need is, is where we’ll try to action that in the marketplace. That might involve spending money, or it might involve acquiring a highly-talented player like Alan Browne on a free transfer. That’s the balance of our work.”

Sunderland transfer plans

Sunderland’s decision to bring in Regis Le Bris as their new manager in the summer from FC Lorient has worked out well so far.

He has got their side defensively organised and they look a real threat going forward.

The recruitment was solid in the last window and they ended up bringing in Alan Browne, Ian Poveda, Simon Moore, Chris Mepham, Salis Abdul Samed, Wilson Isidor, Ahmed Abdullahi and Milan Aleksic to bolster their ranks.

They also cut ties with the likes of Jack Clarke, Bradley Dack, Jack Diamond and Elliot Embleton, among others, to help free up space and funds in their ranks.

January gives them the chance to add the finishing touches to their squad ahead of the second-half of the campaign.

With the way things are going at the moment, Sunderland may well be gunning for promotion if they can keep their form going.

There is a long way to go yet though until the next window opens for business but there is no harm in making plans early to ensure they get the right players through the door.

What next for Sunderland?

The international break came at an annoying time for Sunderland and they will hope it doesn’t disrupt their momentum.