Sunderland are yet to make their first splash in the January transfer window as Kristjaan Speakman and Tony Mowbray work to improve the squad before the end of the month.
The Black Cats are in the market to add to their options at the top end of the pitch after Ellis Simms was recalled by parent club Everton at the start of January, having spent the first half of the campaign on loan at the Stadium of Light.
It was recently reported by The Northern Echo that Mowbray now wants to bring in another striker on loan, alongside a permanent addition in that position, and that a forward from the Premier League is likely at this moment in time.
That player could be Brighton & Hove Albion attacker Deniz Undav, as the German has been linked with a move to Sunderland. Football League World recently named the Black Cats among a number of Championship clubs – alongside Blackburn, West Brom, Millwall and Norwich – who are eyeing up the forward.
He has not started a single Premier League match for the Seagulls this term, and the allure of regular first-team football in the second tier could convince him to drop down a division for the second half of the season.
Simms played one top-flight match in 2021/22 but then proved to be a reliable striker in the Championship for Sunderland as he scored seven goals in 14 starts, averaging a Sofascore rating of 7.03.
Would Undav be a good signing?
Sunderland could now replace the Englishman’s impact by swooping to sign another Premier League outcast in Undav, as the German forward caught the eye in Belgium last season.
In the 2021/22 campaign, the 26-year-old plundered a whopping 26 goals and 12 assists in 38 Pro League starts, averaging a Sofascore rating of 7.58.
The striker created an eye-catching 21 ‘big chances’ and delivered two key passes per match for Union Saint-Gilloise. This shows that he has the quality to be a regular provider as well as a goalscorer, which makes him a double threat at the top end of the pitch.
Speaking to Brighton’s YouTube channel earlier this season, the forward provided insight into his playing style in the final third, saying: “I can score inside the box, outside the box, I can score from the middle line, I can score from everywhere. I have no typical type of goal. I try to score with my head, with the left foot, right foot, with my shoulder, with everything.”
This suggests that Undav would suit any style of play as a striker due to his ability to score from a multitude of positions in a number of different ways.
Therefore, Sunderland must now swoop to sign him before the end of the month, as his phenomenal form in Belgium suggests that he has the potential to be a dream Simms replacement heading into the last four months of the season.
