Kyril Louis-Dreyfus reveals his 'big hope' for Sunderland transfer strategy

Sunderland owner explains how things are different under him than they were in the past.

Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus says Sunderland’s days of mass player turnover are over, and not before time.

Poor transfer strategy over the years meant Sunderland fans had grown accustomed to major rebuilds every single summer.

Much of that was down to an over-reliance on loan players, and the fact Sunderland too often didn’t know what division they would be in until the last couple of games of the season made early contract renewals impossible too.

Louis-Dreyfus experienced that legacy first hand when he took charge of the club in 2021, although the situation is a lot clearer now with only two players out-of-contract this summer.

That stability has allowed for a much more targeted approach, and it’s something that the chairman is keen to take full advantage of.

“When I came in, we had a very peculiar situation where I think we had 12 players left [under contract] at the end of my first season,” Louis-Dreyfus said at the launch of The Sunderland Story.

“It was therefore about bringing in a big number of players that summer. Then, we got promoted, and so you have to go through a similar process because you’re stepping up a league.

“My big hope is that, unless we get promoted to the Premier League in the next few months, we’ll be able to recruit less and focus on more specific profiles of exactly what we need, rather than needing to go out and find 12 players.

“We’ve got a really good core of players now, in my opinion, and it’s about adding every window, whether it’s this January or next summer, trying to identify the areas where we make those specific improvements that we need.” 

To learn more about The Sunderland Story, click here.

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