Kristjaan Speakman explains Sunderland transfer decision, club chief sheds light on brutal Leicester snub

Sunderland enter the international break after a thumping 5-0 win over recently relegated Southampton. Thanks to goals from Jack Clarke, Pierre Ekwah, Bradley Dack, and Chris Rigg, the Black Cats earned their second win of the Championship season.

Sunderland are now on a three-match unbeaten run and will be looking ahead to Queens Park Rangers, who they will face on September 16th when domestic action resumes. In the meantime, we’ve rounded up some of the latest headlines for Tony Mowbray’s side and their rivals.

Kristjaan Speakman confident in midfield options

Kristjaan Speakman is not fazed by the fact that the club did not bring in another midfielder during the business end of the transfer window. Sunderland’s sporting director is confident in the depth within the team and believes they currently have the right balance of players competing for a spot in the starting 11.

“We think we’ve got enough flexibility there. We want to try to ensure that players have got an opportunity to play, so we want a streamlined squad. We want to ensure we’ve got enough depth of course but not so much that players can’t see a route for them onto the pitch, because that’s not good for the team culture either

“We’re really, really comfortable with where we ended up on the back of those deals we got done at the end of the window.”

Club chief reveals major Leicester transfer snub

James McAtee, who rejoined Sheffield United on loan this summer, was originally set to join Leicester before a brutal last minute snub. The Blades’ chief executive Stephen Bettis recently confirmed that the midfielder was actually at Leicester’s training ground the day before the window closed.

McAtee had been close to joining the Foxes but the lure of Premier League football changed his mind as he weighed up his next loan move away from Manchester City.

“We tried, tried, tried. The transfer window closed on Friday and at Thursday lunchtime, he was at Leicester,” Bettis revealed. “Him and his agent were in a car, ringing me and saying: ‘Book us into a hotel, Steve, because we are telling them he is coming to you and playing Premier League football. James wants to come to you.’