QUIET

With just over two weeks till Sunderland return to league action against Ipswich, it’s all pretty quiet, only one or two murmurs on the transfer front, Europa League draw not till the end of the month, there really is not a lot to talk about. Is it too quiet though given we are fast approaching what is going to be a very busy season?

Last year the summer was utter chaos, it felt like almost every time you would pick up the phone we would be linked to some outrageous name, whether it be somebody we’d never heard of, or names like Granit Xhaka and Brian Brobbey. It was absolutely mental and you almost feel it has set an almost unrealistic expectation in how our transfer business runs. By this time last year, we had already signed Enzo Le Fee, Habib Diarra, Noah Sadiki, Reinildo, Chemsdine Talbi, Simon Adingra, Granit Xhaka, Robin Roefs and the loan signing of Marc Guiu. Compare that to this year, where our only incoming has been Thomas Meunier.

I think we do need to remember last season was incredibly unique. We basically needed an entirely new squad last summer which meant we had to get business done with a lot more urgency. I get the idea that this season, Regis is almost happy to start the season with what he has got as long as business gets done at some point. This summer is more a case of strengthening the depth of our squad rather than signing a completely new eleven.

So far links have been few and far between, with Sporting Lisbon’s Geny Catamo the most recent link, with the only other one doing the rounds being Toulouse Left-Back Dayyan Methalie, which you feel is going to drag on for a while and that’s not even to say he ends up here come the end of the window.

It has meant some fans have started to get concerned, especially given the fact a couple of players have been linked away, with Talbi linked with a move to RB Leipzig. A player who many expect to kick on this year, and he is in a position we already need to add to even if he stays.

All I would say is that the recruitment team have absolutely earned our trust and that the years of mismanagement in this department do feel like they are behind us. We do just have to be a bit patient and if we are being honest, most signings under this regime tend to come out of the blue anyway so would not be surprised if we pulled a few out of thin air in the next week or so.

Yes, it is quiet, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Look at those down the road, having constant noise around players leaving, journalists arguing amongst themselves about who is right and who is wrong. Yet we are just by the sounds of it getting on with things in the background.

In what is set to be a historic year for the club, after everything the club managed to achieve last year, I think the patience and trust of the supporters is the least they deserve.