The Black Cats under transfer gurus Kristjaan Speakman and Stuart Harvey are not expected to undergo major surgery during the winter but several fringe players are now confirmed as free to leave in January should the right opportunity arise for both Sunderland and the player.
Here, we take a look at the six players made available by Sunderland ahead of the January transfer window:
Joe Anderson
Joe Anderson’s last first-team appearance for Sunderland came earlier in the season during the loss to Preston North End in the Carabao Cup.
Since then, the former Everton man has played for Graeme Murty’s under-21s and hasn’t really had a sniff of first-team action under Le Bris. At 23 years old, the defender needs to be playing first-team football and will be free to leave the club in January.
Zak Johnson
Sunderland head coach Régis Le Bris recently confirmed that young defender Zak Johnson may be loaned out during the winter transfer window.
“Yes, we’ll see. It could be an option.” Le Bris said when asked about The Echo about the possibility of Johnson leaving on loan during the winter transfer window. “His reaction, the way he trains every day, is very positive. I like Zak in the training sessions, especially when he’s a teammate on the bench.”
Le Bris added: “He’s always positive, he’s a good player. He needs time to develop. I think for him, it’s more difficult because the back four is more consistent and probably if he had been a winger, it should have been different for him. But that’s the case. And so far, he’s very positive with the team and I like his profile.”
Jewison Bennette
The Costa Rica international needs to get his career back on track and a January loan or permanent transfer feels likely.
The winger has featured predominately for Graeme Murty’s under-21s this season but has shown no signs of breaking through into Le Bris’ first-team during the 2024-25 season with both Tommy Watson and Romaine Mundle ahead of him. Bennette was then moved to left-back for the Black Cats’ youth side.
Back in September, Le Bris said of Bennette: “It’s difficult because we felt that he needed senior football, and of course, with the under-21s he is still playing youth football.
“But he can train with the senior team and have this kind of game, so it’s only four months and then we can see after that. We can try to see how he plays at left-back, it is still useful for his development and his experiences. I don’t think it’s his position but he can learn there in games like this.”
Adoullah Ba, Adil Aouchcihe and Nazariy Rusyn
Le Bris left the door open for fringe trio Abdoullah Ba, Adil Aouchiche, and Nazariy Rusyn to leave the club during the winter window should a decent opportunity arise. However, Sunderland’s head coach also pointed towards the balance of his squad as a factor in the decision-making process.
“There are players who haven’t really been involved who could maybe leave in January,” Le Bris admitted. “If you don’t have the opportunity to play, and you have an option with another club that is good for your development, then sometimes that is a good option to take and move on. We will see what happens.
“We have to be mindful of the balance of the team and the squad. You need to have subs who have the right mindset, even if they don’t play a lot. You need players who are always available, good in training sessions and positive on the bench. That is very important, and then you also have to remember that all of the players have a contract. That is another factor. But the players need to play, and you need a squad that has the right dynamic.”
What has Le Bris said about January?
Régis Le Bris expects more competition in the final third to be Sunderland’s key focus when the transfer window opens next month.
Le Bris has consistently said that the business Sunderland do will be guided to a large extent by how the injury situation develops over the coming weeks, with Salis Abdul Samed and Ahmed Abdullahi both expected to debut before the window opens. But as things stand, the head coach admits the final third is where the need is greatest.
“We have done a lot of work on the profiles I like as a head coach and how I can define this for each position,” Le Bris said on the club’s preparations for the window to date. So it was a question of sharing these ideas and discussing them. We shared this with the recruitment staff and the coaching staff, and discussed how we can combine these different points of view to ensure we are really connected.
“Now we will have different profiles to assess. It is easy to find our weakest position right now but things can change, so it will be more intense [closer to the window]. But our thoughts on these [initial] profiles are very clear.
“Probably [final third a priority]. We have many competitive players in the back four, goalkeepers we have no problem. Midfielders it depends on who is available but if everyone is available we don’t have many problems. it is probably at the top of the pitch that we have something to expect.”
