Speakman spoke publicly for the first time since last month’s dramatic play-off win at Wembley earlier today, with the sporting director spelling out how the Black Cats will go about trying to assemble a squad that will enable them to compete in the Premier League.
It will be a case of prioritising quality over quantity this summer, with Sunderland expected to target ‘four or five’ key additions that will strengthen key areas of the squad, with the spine of the starting line-up a major focus. Having already broken their transfer record to turn Enzo Le Fee’s loan move from Roma into a permanent transfer, with the Italian having joined for around £20m, there is every chance the Black Cats will spend an even larger sum on one player at some point before the transfer window closes at the end of August.
However, having been extremely methodical and focused in their transfer dealings so far, the current hierarchy, led by owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Speakman, will not be veering too far away from the template that has proved so successful in the club’s journey from League One to the top-flight.
“We’re always trying to get the balance right in terms of being prepared for whichever league you might be in, and we’ve tried to do that,” said Speakman, who has spent most of the last two days chairing recruitment discussions. “Naturally, as a play-off winning team, you’re behind where other clubs might be, but we’re fast-tracking that and catching up.
“We’re looking to improve and build a team that is capable of staying in the Premier League, I think the objective is fairly clear.
“Everyone will point to the statistics as to how difficult it is to stay in the Premier League and we’re fully aware of that, we’re not naive. Our strategy in getting to the Premier League and the solutions we needed, to the ones we need to stay there, will be different.
“That’s work we’re doing at the minute but ultimately, we’re going to stick to our values. We need to have a team that the community and city is proud of, we’ve built that in the current team and we have to have that in the Premier League.
“When we came to the club we had a multi-year strategy about how we’d be able to get back to the Premier League, and it’s about continuing that way of thinking. We’re going to make decisions that are in the best interests of the club to try and retain our position in the Premier League, while making decisions that don’t negatively impact the club in the long term.
“I think we’ve seen before at Sunderland that if you don’t consider those factors, how negative that can be in the long term. I don’t think it’s necessarily anything different in terms of our principles, but there are clearly key decisions coming up around making sure we have a squad capable of achieving our objective of staying up.”
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Where that might mean a slight deviation from former actions is in relation to adding to the overall experience of the first-team squad.
While it is something of a misconception that Sunderland have refused to sign more experienced players under Speakman – the loan signing of Chris Mepham played a major role in helping to secure promotion – there is no doubt that the club’s general transfer model has been to heavily prioritise the purchase of young, unproven players who could be developed in the Football League.
Signing players with a potential sell-on value remains a key element in Sunderland’s recruitment approach, but there is an acknowledgement that the standard of the Premier League means it cannot be a nursery for players at a very early stage of their development. As a result, the Black Cats will not be recruiting the same type of player that they might well have targeted had they still been a Championship club.
“We did add Championship experience when we stepped up, and they helped us on and off the pitch,” said Speakman. “The solutions are always different. In our context, from a footballing perspective, you’re moving up two or three leagues really in terms of the level. So, we need to make sure that we have the right level of player in the team, with the right game experience.
“We’re acutely aware of that, we want to retain our principles and values, but sometimes, of course, you have to tweak the needle a little bit. You have to fully understand the environment you’re going into.
“We were able to sign some players who we felt could adapt to the EFL, some people questioned us but thankfully we were proved right with some many of those players – that Chris Rigg could play, Jobe Bellingham could play, Romaine Mundle could play.
“We have to make sure we can apply the same principle to the next league, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll have the same background [Premier League experience].
“We feel we’ve got loads of talented players and it’s on them to come back for pre-season in the best condition possible to be able to play Premier League football, and our challenge is to then build the right balance from there. We’ll obviously be signing new players into the team, to ensure we have a Premier League team that can be competitive.”
That means Jordan Henderson will be considered as an option, although the Wearsider is merely one of a number of central midfielders currently being assessed for a position that is regarded as a key priority.
One thing Speakman is determined to avoid is the purchase of players simply to swell the numbers within the first-team group, with both sporting director and head coach adamant that a reasonably tight-knit group is essential to achieving success.
“We’ve always advocated for a smaller squad in terms of day-to-day on the training ground,” said Speakman. “You can have a larger squad where some players are on loan to develop, but day to day we’ve always gone with quite a small group.
“Regis and I see that the same way, so we won’t have an inflated squad. Having players who feel they’re within touching distance of the pitch has been really important for us and that’s been part of our success.”
