Earlier this month, Sunderland club representatives met with the supporters’ collective.
Kristjaan Speakman has acknowledged that he expects it to be a challenging market once more this summer and beyond, he says Sunderland is willing to be flexible in their bid to resolve their striking issues.
Speakman addressed the club’s transfer policy and recruitment track record during a meeting with the collective of supporters on March 12. The club’s strikers’ dismal goal-scoring performance this season prompted questions about the sporting director’s future goalscoring strategy.
Speakman stated that although they had made “significant” attempts in January to address the problem and add more experience, they had been unable to do so for unspecified reasons.
KS stated that ”last summer the Club identified players to play in the team, who to date have found it difficult to impact the central role with a regularity of goals,” the minutes read.
“He added that any lack of output has not been through a lack of effort or work on the training field. The Club continually review all aspects of performance, including forward play, and they are seeking ways to improve. This includes the central position and other areas of the pitch where goal contributions have also not been as high as anticipated.
“The Club also feel they need to prepare for the future, as they don’t believe challenging market conditions will change,” the minutes add.
“As a result, they have invested in some younger profile players like Luis Hemir and Eliezer Mayenda and retained exciting talents in the academy, such as Timur Tutierov and Trey Ogunsuyi.
KS added that in January, the Club made significant efforts to sign two forwards where the associated fees were considerable. Unfortunately, they were not able to complete these deals for reasons outside of the Club’s control, including the individual preferences of the players and their parent Clubs.
One of these players was over 30 years of age, which was an area highlighted earlier.”