TONY MOWBRAY has admitted that while the transfer window is due to open in just over a fortnight’s time, he remains completely in the dark about the size of Sunderland’s January budget and the scale of the club’s ambitions next month.

Whereas Mowbray’s predecessor, Alex Neil, fought tooth and nail for control of the club’s transfer business, the current head coach is much more relaxed about the model he has been tasked with fitting into.

Mowbray has a say over incomings and outgoings, but the key decisions will be taken by owner, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, and sporting director, Kristjaan Speakman, with a high degree of input from senior figures within the newly-remodelled recruitment department.

Mowbray is expecting transfer activity next month, with a key focus once again likely to fall on the pursuit of emerging youngsters who can be developed with Sunderland’s first-team squad, but he concedes he does not yet know what to expect in terms of the number of additions or the size of the budget that is available to bring them in.

“I’d have to say that it’s (what is going to happen in January) not crystal clear to me yet,” admitted Mowbray. “I am involved in some of the conversations around recruitment, but not all of them. I’m not sure how much money we’re going to spend, I’m not sure whether there’s a budget to do certain things or not.

“Every club does it differently. At my previous club (Blackburn), I was given all the spreadsheets, I knew exactly what the budget was, I knew how much money we had surplus, I knew how much we could spend on the purchase and then how much salary level we had left. That’s not the case here.

“I sit here with the vulnerability of not really being able to give an answer about what might happen because I don’t really know. The club might surprise us and spend lots of money, or they might bring some free transfers in and give them a decent salary or they might spend a few million quid on some young players whose salary expectations are not as high.

“I don’t know the answer to that, other than saying that I do believe the club will continue to grow and continue to bring talent in. It’ll probably be young talent that needs polishing, but I knew that would be the case when I took the job on.”

Whereas Neil gave the impression that the goalposts had moved during his Stadium of Light tenure, Mowbray has always been aware of the overarching structure he would be expected to work within.

He has spoken to both Louis-Dreyfus and Speakman about the current state of his squad, and has identified the loss of loan players within the next six months as an issue that ideally needs to be addressed.

Sunderland currently have Edouard Michut, Amad Diallo and Ellis Simms on loan deals, and while all three are expected to see out the current campaign, there is every chance they will all be returning to their parent clubs in the summer.

“If you think about filling holes in your squad and wanting a squad of players, then you have to look at the loan players that, at some stage, hopefully not January but maybe in the summer, will leave,” said Mowbray. “That will leave a gaping hole in the squad.

“You have to fill these holes and, in my opinion, if you’re going to be signing young players, it’s almost better to give them the six months until the end of the season to bed in, understand how we play and know what the demands are. Then, when the loan players do go back to their parents clubs, we’ve got a player already in the club, in our squad, ready to fill that hole.

“But then you’re also hoping that he can have an impact on the journey along the way to where he becomes the number nine, or the number ten, or the right winger or the centre-half.”