Despite a promising start to the 2023-24 season, Sunderland are showing that they still have some flaws in their squad that need to be addressed in January.
The Black Cats had a great run to the Championship play-offs last season, and they continued on their model of signing young, hungry players with not only plenty of potential, but also players that can immediately slot into the first-team picture.
After going on a five-match unbeaten run earlier on in the campaign, things looked to be pretty rosy at the Stadium of Light, but three defeats in succession has exposed Sunderland’s soft underbelly at times.
Granted, there has been varying factors for the losses, with the 4-0 drubbing by North East rivals Middlesbrough only coming after a Dan Neil red card, whilst despite a 1-0 defeat on the road at league leaders Leicester City on Tuesday night, they really took the game to the Foxes and could’ve easily gotten something out of it.
Mowbray’s squad though is still lacking a certain something to perhaps take them to the next level, but what the Wearsiders will not be doing in the January transfer window is adding plenty of experience to their ranks.
The recruitment policy is very clear now under owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus – aside from a couple of outliers such as Bradley Dack – that young players are the name of the game when it comes to signings.
Sunderland had just three players in their starting 11 against Leicester over the age of 23, and the hierarchy clearly want to keep progressing with their plans as they got rid of the likes of Danny Batth over the summer and they were happy to see Alex Pritchard leave if the right offer came in.
