KRISTJAAN SPEAKMAN claims Sunderland’s summer recruitment process is already “well under way” - and is hoping the club will be able to enjoy some early successes when the transfer window officially reopens at the end of next month.

The Black Cats’ sporting director admits the current squad is light in a number of key areas, with the most obvious example coming up front, where Tony Mowbray had to make do and mend for the majority of the campaign in the absence of the injured Ross Stewart.

Central defence is another area that needs reinforcing, with the Black Cats having had to negotiate the final month of the season without a single recognised centre-half, and Speakman claims potential transfer deals are already well down the line.

Birmingham City midfielder Jobe Bellingham is understood to have agreed to move to Wearside in a deal that is set to cost around £3m, with Speakman also hoping there will be further progress before Sunderland’s players reconvene for the start of pre-season training in early July.

Speaking in an interview that was aired on the club’s official social media channels, Speakman said: “We’ll go into the transfer window as we always do, trying to evolve and improve the team.

“We feel that there’s areas that require strengthening – I think some of those are more obvious than others. But we’re only ever going to try to acquire the right players when we feel that they’re the right types of players, the right individuals who are going to come and contribute to the team, in the short and long term.

“I think, for us, maintaining the level of the quality that we’ve brought in is going to be the most difficult challenge because the team has evolved and the standard that is required is increasing.

“But myself and the recruitment staff are absolutely relishing that challenge, and the work is well under way on that. Hopefully, we can be quite early to the summer market, and that gives us the best opportunity of being well prepared for next season.”

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The Bellingham deal was set up in the second half of last season, with the youngster having attended the Stadium of Light for the first leg of Sunderland’s play-off semi-final with Luton Town.

Ideally, Speakman would like to complete the bulk of the Black Cats’ summer business as quickly as possible, although when it comes to potential Premier League loan deals, the club might have to wait until much later in the window.

Speakman said: “We would always like to be as early as possible to recruiting players because we have pre-season for a reason and I think it gives us the most preparation time.

“It’s not always possible. You have to be able to find the right player at the right moment, and it has to fit for both themselves and us.

“I certainly think that by being really well organised and planned, as we have been, we could go into this window literally from the moment that the January window finished.

“Some of our scouting and recruitment work, some of the players we’re engaging with at the minute, has been going on for the last year.

“We certainly want to see some of that hard work come to the forefront, and hopefully see some more exciting players playing a brand of football at the Stadium of Light that I know from speaking to supporters in and around the city that they’re really pleased with.”