Source: Northern_Echo
Nine arrivals during another busy summer
THIS time last year, Steve Bruce was asked to reflect on a transfer window that had seen eight new additions to the Sunderland squad. "I don't think we'll be seeing a summer like that again," he opined.[LNB] In one respect, he was right. We haven't seen a summer with eight new additions - Bruce has gone one better and signed nine players instead.[LNB] Article continues below[LNB] IN [LNB] G Keiren Westwood Coventry, free D Ahmed Elmohamady ENPPI, £2m D John O'Shea Man United, £4m D Wes Brown Man United, £1m M Craig Gardner Birmingham, £5m M David Vaughan Blackpool, free M Sebastian Larsson Birmingham, free F Connor Wickham Ipswich, £8m F Ji Dong-won Chunnam Dragons, £2m [LNB] OUT [LNB] D Jean Yves M'Voto Oldham, free D John Mensah Lyon, end of loan D Liam Noble Carlisle, loan D Michael Kay Tranmere, free D Nedum Onuoha Man City, end of loan D Robbie Weir Tranmere, free M Bolo Zenden released M Cristian Riveros Kayserispor, loan M Jordan Henderson Liverpool, £20m M Nathan Luscombe Hartlepool, free M Sulley Muntari Inter Milan, end of loan F Danny Welbeck Man United, end of loan [LNB] Any talk of gradual evolution went out of the window when the Black Cats lost four loan players plus Bolo Zenden at the end of last season, then proceeded to sell Jordan Henderson to Liverpool for £20m.[LNB] Armed with that money, plus a hefty chunk of the £24m that was received for Darren Bent in January, Bruce immediately set about rebuilding the side that secured a coveted top-half finish on the final day of the last campaign.[LNB] Time will tell whether he has recruited wisely, but with his squad having lacked depth in a number of areas for a while now, the Black Cats boss is adamant such a major upheaval was necessary.[LNB] "People forget, but since the end of last season, we've lost six," said Bruce. "Bolo decided he didn't want to stay, we lost Jordan and we lost our four loan players. We were very light last year, so we had to address it.[LNB] "I also felt that, last season, the youth of the team sometimes went against us when we were up against it. They didn't have the experience to handle what we were doing.[LNB] "We all enjoy a young player and developing them, and I think we've done that very well. But I just thought that, especially defensively, to have a little bit of experience, nous and know-how would be preferable."[LNB] To that end, Bruce approached Sir Alex Ferguson and inquired about the possible availability of Wes Brown and John O'Shea.[LNB] Deep down, he didn't think he'd get the former Champions League winners. A couple of weeks later, though, and he was watching them being paraded at the Academy of Light.[LNB] "Getting the two United boys was a big deal," said Bruce. "I think when they joined there was a real feel good factor about things. All around the town, everybody's talking about the start of the season and that's terrific. It's up to us now to get a team together, but we're moving in the right direction.[LNB] "To get two established players out of Manchester United is quite a coup. If I'm honest, I didn't really think it would be possible. Two or three years ago, it probably wouldn't have been, but now they're looking at it and seeing that Sunderland are having a right good crack.[LNB] "If you look at what we have in the squad, I think we have a really good balance now. I can't wait to get things going."[LNB]
