Sunderland manager Chris Coleman has confirmed the main priority this window is to add to our firepower up front.
Having added Chelsea’s Jake Clarke-Salter on a loan spell so far in January, Coleman has admitted to the press that having lost both Lewis Grabban and James Vaughan this month, the top of the pitch has to be his focus.
Speaking to the Official Site as he held his pre Hull City press conference, naturally there were questions about the January transfer window, and here’s what the former Welsh international manager had to say.
‘What do we need to do? We need to add a bit of experience, and we also need to add numbers. We have two weeks to do this, but ideally we`d like to get that done and dusted today if we could. It`s not as easy as that, unfortunately. We`re trying very hard because we need to help out the players that we`ve got. Some of those players are maybe getting more exposure than we would like because they`re young and inexperienced.’
With Sunderland lighter in the top area than we were in the first half of the season, Coleman went on to say that hopefully Friday will see progress on at least one player after reported deals for Ben Woodburn and Jon Walters fell through.
‘We`re definitely looking at that position after losing two experienced strikers through no fault of our own, so we`ve got to replace. We need to help the young lads like Maja and Asoro, and it`s clear we need a couple of fresh faces, without a doubt. We`re working very hard. I don`t believe we can possible do anymore than what we are to try and make something happen. We`re all well aware of the severity of the situation and we`re working tirelessly to add some resources, certainly in that area.’
With Coleman returning to transfer windows following six years not having to deal with the madness whilst he managed Wales, clearly he hadn’t missed said madness.
‘Honestly, I hate it! I`ve never liked this transfer window. There`s so many strange things happen. You speak to any manager about the January transfer window and we all hate it. You`re trying to hang on to the players you don`t want to sell, there`s maybe one or two you think ‘OK, you can go and play somewhere else`, but no one wants to buy them. Then you`re trying to sign players you want, but every other club is trying to sign them and you`ve got four weeks to try and make something happen. It is just a really, crazy, crazy window. It can make or break your season. Look where we are now – rock bottom – we need some support so it`s a very intense time for us, but we have to find a way.’
