Fans’ inquiries about Sunderland’s recruitment policy and striker concerns are addressed by Kristjaan Speakman.

“He added that any lack of output has not been through a lack of effort or work on the training field. The Club continually review all aspects of performance, including forward play, and they are seeking ways to improve. This includes the central position and other areas of the pitch where goal contributions have also not been as high as anticipated.

“The Club also feel they need to prepare for the future, as they don’t believe challenging market conditions will change,” the minutes add. “As a result, they have invested in some younger profile players like Luis Hemir and Eliezer Mayenda and retained exciting talents in the academy, such as Timur Tutierov and Trey Ogunsuyi. KS added that in January, the Club made significant

efforts to sign two forwards where the associated fees were considerable. Unfortunately, they were not able to complete these deals for reasons outside of the Club’s control, including the individual preferences of the players and their parent Clubs. One of these players was over 30 years of age, which was an area highlighted earlier.”