In the last few years, Sunderland have been consistently struggling in the relegation zone and the Wearside club would desperately wanted it to change this campaign. However, things have gotten only worse for the Black Cats this term. They have suffered their worst ever start to a league campaign, with just two points from their opening 10 league matches.
David Moyes will be a concerned man right now and needs to make his side improve really soon or else it will be too late for them to save their Premier League status.
The Sunderland Echo claims that the Black Cats are keeping tabs on striker Moussa Marega who is in red-hot form in Portuguese Primeira Liga this season. The 25-year-old is currently plying his trade for Vitoria Guimaraes in the Portuguese Primeira Liga on loan from FC Porto. With 10 Liga goals from just eight games to his name, the Mali international is right now topping the scoring charts in Portugal and the interest he is attracting is quite obvious.
One of the many reasons behind Sunderland’s below par start to the season is too much pressure on the shoulders of veteran Jermain Defoe. The Englishman has 5 Premier League goals to his name this season from 10 games. What more can you ask from a 34-year-old? Victor Anichebe was clearly a desperate buy and yet to get a start at the Stadium of Light and it is as clear as daylight that the Black Cats need a prolific forward who can ease some pressure off the shoulders of Defoe.
The 25-rear old is a prolific forward and is in the form of his life now. However, bringing him in January could prove to be tricky for Sunderland he is on loan at Vitoria Guimaraes until the end of the season and both Porto and Vitoria Guimaraes might not agree to terminate the loan. Even if they do, Porto wouldn’t want to sell the player whom they signed in January 2016.
Marega is a big and quick striker and his movement off the ball is top-notch. Blessed with a frame of 6 ft 1 in, the Malian has decent ability in the air and is a strong player. He has an average of 0.6 aerial duels won every game this season.
With 3.3 shots taken every game, it is evident that he likes to take his chances. The Malian is just 25 years of age and can be a long-term success at Sunderland if they manage to get his signature.
However, even if Sunderland manage to secure the Malian’s signature, he will be unavailable in January due to the African Cup of Nations. Sunderland will anyway miss the services of Lamine Kone, Didier N’dong, Wahbi Khazri and Papy Djilobodji during that period. The damage done will be incurable unless they improve before January and signing a player who won’t be there for almost one month makes the least sense.
