Sunderland have reportedly made a loan offer for Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Dion Sanderson. It was previously believed that the Black Cats would not attempt to make any new signings on deadline day. However, it appears that, according to Sky Sports and the Sunderland Echo, the League One club are attempting to bring in 20-year-old Sanderson to the Stadium of Light on loan.
Sunderland Want Wolves Defender Dion Sanderson on Loan
New Arrivals Seemed Unlikely on Deadline Day
Prior to the domestic transfer deadline, Parkinson told the Sunderland Echo: “The money we can offer in terms of the salary cap is not enough to tempt clubs to come to us. Because of that, I think managers are looking at it and saying, ‘well, we’ve got a lot of games coming up and it’s only ten weeks until the next transfer window. Let’s just keep out squads together.’
“If we could offer money where the club’s owners would look at it and say, ‘well that’s worthwhile because it would save us X amount of money’, [it might happen] but we can’t do that because of the cap. So that’s proved difficult in terms of the loan players from Championship and Premier League clubs who have that quality from playing at the level.”
Who is Dion Sanderson?
Twenty-year-old central defender Sanderson has risen through the Wolves academy in recent years. He made his first-team debut against Aston Villa in 2019 in a Carabao Cup tie. Sanderson also has EFL Trophy experience playing for Wolves’ U23 side in the competition. However, the experience that could hold him in good stead for a move to Wearside was his spell at Championship side Cardiff City last season. The youngster featured ten times for the Bluebirds before the season was cancelled.
One huge bonus for Sunderland is that, given Sanderson’s age, he will not count towards the League One salary cap. Sanderson is a right-footed central defender primarily; however, he can play as a full-back if required to.
Black Cats Desperate for Defensive Reinforcements
During the summer Phil Parkinson brought in defenders Morgan Feeney and Arbenit Xhemajli; however, both are on the treatment table. Feeney is likely to be out until around Christmas and Xhemajli is out for the rest of the season. Therefore, central defence is a high priority for Parkinson with his options now limited.
Left-back is also a concern. Sunderland have just Denver Hume as their only natural left-back/left-wingback. The Black Cats have been without a backup in that position for some time and should that continue it could become a major concern as the season progresses.
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