GHISOLFI ON CLUB AIMS

Ahead of last night's game against Liverpool, Florent Ghisolfi was interviewed by TNT Sports and spoke about the club's transfer policy and their current ambition going into the summer. While it's been a great start to life back in the Premier League, Ghisolfi isn't getting carried away and insists that the target is to still avoid being dragged into a relegation scrap.

DREAMING BIG BUT STAYING REALISTIC

"At the moment we don't speak about European qualification. We don't think about that. Regis was always clear on the 40 points target and we have to stay focused on that. After, as I always said, the dream is also good, the promise. So I'm not afraid to speak about the dream, but first of all, step by step, the first target is retention, stay in the league."

NO COMPLACENCY

"This league is a hard league, the best league in the world in terms of football. So we have to stay focused. If we start to sleep five minutes, we’ll be dead."

WORK ETHIC IS KEY

“So we keep going and I think the most important thing is to stay Sunderland. The only thing we ask them more than the retention or European competition is to be Sunderland - the values, fight every day, every game. This is the only thing we ask them, and it was my first words to the team.”

TOGETHERNESS

“As a club we work together with direction and also Kyril is very important in that leadership group and he had a very important impact in the journey from League One to the Premier League. We work together, if I have to say one thing is we are one club, we have one direction and we have only one voice. I think the potential of the club is huge because of the stadium, the history, the fan base, but we have to work. Today we are a promoted team, speaking will bring nothing so we are building. We know where we want to go, but it's a lot of work.”

SUMMER DEALINGS

“It was a very busy summer and not easy because I was sporting director at AS Roma and right after the promotion, the ownership called me. So I jumped into the project just in June and it was a rush. It was not easy, but I think we had the clear view, clear strategy of the team we wanted to build and the identity of the club."

IDENTITY

“The identity is in the centre of everything. And I'm very happy because the team has that identity. The game we play has a Sunderland identity, if I can say. And to come back to the transfer market was not easy to convince the players because we were a promoted team, but we are not only a promoted team, we are Sunderland and we are so attractive."

FUTURE-PROOFING

“We have a strong collective performance and we are strong and ambitious. We have a clear plan, stability, continuity. The summer was very busy, but for the winter was more calm and we are preparing for the summer, but first of all, we have to reach the target and to stay in the league after we plan for the future.”