Sunderland have made a positive start to the transfer window with four new faces coming through the door at the Stadium of Light, but the club's need for a new defensive midfielder is 'obvious'.
Who have Sunderland just signed?
Following their play-off semi-final heartbreak at the hands of Luton Town in May, the Wearsiders have been positive in the summer transfer market, bringing in four new players to try and help them avoid the same fate again next year.
The most expensive player signed by the club so far is Dutch defender Jenson Seelt, who cost the Black Cats £1.7m from Eredivisie giants PSV. He moves to Wearside after being named on the bench nine times in the Netherlands but never once stepping onto the field.
Whilst cheaper than his new Dutch teammate, Jobe Bellingham has easily drawn the most attention from the wider footballing world. Jude Bellingham's younger brother, he cost Sunderland £1.5m and, just like his Madrid-based brother, comes from the academy at Birmingham City.
The other two players to make a move to the North East are centre-forward Luis Semedo, who joined from Benfica B for an undisclosed fee, and centre-back Nectarios Triantis, who joined from A-League outfit Central Coast Mariners for an estimated fee of £300,000.
Whilst these are all good signings that could help Sunderland get over the line this year, they still need more cover in defensive midfield, according to Phil Smith of the Sunderland Echo.
He stated: "Cover in defensive midfield would look to be one other obvious priority, but elsewhere it could depend much on how Mowbray’s squad shapes up in the months ahead."
Who are Sunderland targeting in the transfer window?
According to a report from Dutch outlet Leeuwarder Courant, Sunderland have identified 28-year-old Thom Haye as a serious transfer target this summer.
Whilst he is younger than the typical age profile that the Wearsiders have been targeting recently, the club have made it clear that they want to strike a balance between youthful promise and a few older players with more experience.
Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman said as much last summer:
"I've had three transfer windows here and I'd like to think if people were going to be critical about the group and lowering the age profile, they would have to say we've got some really talented players in our group and we've got some older more experienced players that are fundamental to that success and we've got some young up-and-coming players that are fundamental to that success. That's the balance we've got to get."
Would Thom Haye be a good signing for Sunderland?
The former Netherlands under-21 international is in the perfect spot to help the club and Speakman fulfil their goal of including more experienced and slightly older players into their exciting and youthful setup.
At only 28, he is still in the prime of his career, but he also comes with bags of experience after playing 175 games in the Eredivisie, with the vast majority of those appearances coming as an out-and-out defensive midfielder.
He also had a strong season last year with, WhoScored giving the "impressive" midfielder a brilliant average rating of 7.05 across his 31 top-flight appearances for his club side SC Heerenveen.
His underlying numbers are equally impressive, with FBref, who compare players in a similar position across their definition of the next best eight competitions, placing him in the top 8% for progressive passes, the top 10% for passes attempted, the top 17% for tackles, and the top 19% for progressive carries and interceptions, all per 90.
If Sunderland could get this deal over the line, they would have some excellent cover in defensive midfield for next season, and who knows, Haye could make that position his own if he can carry over his form from the Netherlands.