But Sunderland’s head coach was tight-lipped on Sunderland’s other plans for the remainder of the summer window, with the Frenchman saying the Black Cats will be flexible and “adapt” to the market as they pursue targets.
Sunderland have already made six senior signings this summer, with Habib Diarra, one of the new recruits, making his debut as the Black Cats kicked off their pre-season campaign with a 4-0 win at South Shields on Saturday.
Despite making a flying start to the window, there are still several areas Sunderland want to strengthen in the remaining seven weeks of the window, with the centre of defence an obvious priority.
Chris Mepham returned to Bournemouth at the end of last season and Sunderland this week confirmed Luke O’Nien, Aji Alese, Dennis Cirkin and Leo Hjelde are all set to miss the first three games of the Premier League season.
Asked whether that meant strengthening in defence is a must for Sunderland, Le Bris replied: “Yes. Short answer”.
Sunderland are still pursuing a goalkeeper having missed out on Marcin Bulka and Djordje Petrovic, and are in discussions with clubs over several potential attacking targets.
Le Bris said: “We’re a work in progress. It’s obvious that the next step is going to be massive and so we need to reinforce the squad.
“Ultimately the market decides, we always want the full squad [on day one] but it’s never like that. So we’ll see how it develops in the coming weeks.
“It’s still a little difficult to know exactly what we will do because every day we are learning a little more about the players that we have. We are getting more information after every session, every game. So we’ll see. We’re adapting all the time.”
Despite their hopes of further strengthening the squad, Le Bris is delighted to already have six new faces through the door.
He said: “Only one played today but in the next few weeks we are going to add the others.
“We need to build this connection on the pitch and their physical condition as well. It’s good to get players in early, it’s always better. “Ultimately the market decides, we always want the full squad [on day one] but it’s never like that. So we’ll see how it develops in the coming weeks.
“It’s still a little difficult to know exactly what we will do because every day we are learning a little more about the players that we have. We are getting more information after every session, every game. So we’ll see. We’re adapting all the time.”
Chris Rigg was missing at Shields, with the midfielder having not quite recovered from the ankle injury which forced him to withdraw from the England Under-19 squad for the European Championships.
But the teenager is set to resume full training when the squad head out to Portugal for a camp this week.
Le Bris said: “Chris picked up an ankle injury with the national team, which delayed his restart with the squad, so today was just too early for him. But there is no issue now, he will start working with the team in Portugal.”
Earlier on Saturday, a Sunderland development team, including senior fringe figures such as Hemir, Nazariy Rusyn and Ian Poveda, drew 2-2 at Gateshead.