Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray has admitted that he isn’t sure what the situation is surrounding the club’s pursuit of a new striker ahead of Saturday’s trip to Coventry City.
The Black Cats are interested in bringing in Fulham attacker Jay Stansfield on a season-long loan and were thought to be the frontrunners ahead of the likes of Queens Park Rangers and Millwall.
The former Celtic boss said last weekend that he believed that a deal could be concluded imminently and that he was hopeful a new arrival would have had a few days training with the squad before this weekend’s fixture.
Obviously, this has failed to materialise as time begins to edge towards the end of the transfer window. Speaking to the media, via the Sunderland Echo, Mowbray issued an update on the scenario;
“I honestly don’t know where that stands at this point, and that’s me being honest.
“I thought it was done, and I wouldn’t have said so otherwise. I’d spoken to the manager and he’d spoken to the boy, and so we thought we were ready to get it done.”
Mowbray then explained the situation further, admitting he isn’t sure as to whether a deal will be concluded;
“It didn’t happen, I think there has been an issue in terms of his contractual situation there and it’s become complicated. They obviously thought that was going to resolved easily (and then he could move), but that wasn’t the case.
“Whether it’s going to happen or not, or whether he ends up up somewhere else, I don’t know.”
Sunderland will be desperate to get at least some sort of attacker through the door over the course of the next week, particularly in the absence of star striker Ross Stewart. The 27-year-old has been sidelined with an Achilles tendon injury since January, although is expected to return next month.
Writer’s View
It was expected that Jay Stansfield would now be a Sunderland player, so it is unclear what happened here. The two seemed to be a match made in heaven following the youngster’s successful loan spell at Exeter City last season and Sunderland’s excellent reputation with nurturing its temporary stars.
There will still be a hope that a deal can be concluded over the course of the next week, but time is fast running out.
Head of Writing
