Sunderland will rue their chance of not being able to sign a striker on deadline day, after club striker Fabio Borini was ruled out for three months with a groin injury.
Borini’s injury means that the Black Cats will have only one fit recognised striker in the form of the 33-year-old Jermaine Defoe. Defoe, who incidentally, had been nursing a hamstring injury throughout pre-season.
David Moyes and the club were aware it was a muscle tear that Borini suffered while taking a free-kick during the 1-1 draw at Southampton.
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Sunderland hoped that the Italian striker would stay fit and help the club survive relegation this season, just like he did few seasons back under Gus Poyet when he arrived on loan from Liverpool FC.
The former Liverpool striker’s injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for the club. In case Jermaine Defoe is unfit to play, the club will look to the inexperienced 17-year-old Swedish striker Joel Asoro, who could possibly be making his Premier League debut for Sunderland on Monday.
Busy summer in the transfer market
David Moyes and Sunderland will now have to look into the free-agent market after failed attempts at signing Norwich city striker Steven Naismith and Yann M’Vila from Russian side Rubin Kazan on the transfer day deadline on Wednesday.
"We worked incredibly hard to try to get a striker in all through the window. We may have to go and look into somebody who could give us an alternative for coming off the bench or a wee bit of back-up through the season." said the Black cat's manager.
The club can still negotiate a deal for M’Vila in January as both clubs have a pre-contract agreement in place.
But the club manager David Moyes still managed to bring in a few defenders. Sunderland bought Paddy McNair and Donald Love from Manchester United for a combined fee of £5.5 million and Papy Djilobodji for £8 million from Chelsea.
Moyes also strengthened his attacking options with the signing of Didier Ndong from Lorient for £13.6m, and Belgium international Adnan Januzaj on a loan deal from former club Manchester United.
Injury worries mount
Fabio Borini has now been added to the club’s long list of already injured players which include Vito Mannone, Sebastien Larsson, Lee Cattermole, John O’Shea, and Jan Kirchhoff.
The Black Cats have only managed one point from three games in the Premier League so far, and will be taking on Merseyside club Everton on Monday.
