Misery seems to find its way into the Stadium of Light one way or the other. The club was just recovering from the huge injury crisis that had almost crippled the squad for the first half of the season, when the administrative board announced their financial catastrophe reducing manager David Moyes to deal mostly in free transfers and loan players in January.
Now, when the club was struggling to find decent players with a tight purse, their striker Victor Anichebe has suffered a knee ligament damage, which makes him a long-term absentee. He incurred it in the second half when he came on as a substitute in the 2-0 defeat at West Brom at the weekend.
Although he finished the game with little patch-ups, scans have now revealed the damage. And according to BBC, the striker could be ruled out for 10 weeks now. This leaves the manager with very little attacking choices up front. Apart from the all-important Jermain Defoe, Moyes has Fabio Borini and 17-year-old Joel Asoro as striking options, which is clearly insufficient to help them survive the relegation.
Here are 3 options Moyes should consider signing to bolster his attack before transfer window closes next week-
Robbie Keane
The 36-year-old has played 368 matches in Premier League, where he has scored 131 goals and registered 23 assists. Inarguably, he could be a brilliant addition to the side if he stays fit. And given Defoe’s recent heroics, Keane could definitely emulate the feat. He left Los Angeles Galaxy at the end of the MLS season and is now a free agent.
Sunderland will have to compete with a lot of Championship clubs to land him. Keane has played in some big clubs like Inter Milan, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur and could be a good asset for cash-crunched Sunderland.
Tom Lawrence
It is his low-price tag, which will make him a nice catch for any club. The Leicester City striker, currently on loan with Ipswich Town, has been in impressive form this season. He has scored 5 goals and registered 4 assists in 21 games so far and has looked quite sharp in front of the goal.
The Foxes are said to be open to £1million offers for the 23-year-old, which is the same fee they paid Manchester United to get him in 2014.
Robin Quaison
Although an attacking midfielder by nature, he can perfectly play the role of a secondary striker that Moyes used Victor Anichebe for. He has had some eye-catching displays at Italian side Palermo and has garnered a lot of attention with Watford in pole position to land him.
His amazing dribbling ability and brilliantly controlled long shots could make him a useful player for Moyes. After struggling to find his feet in his first two seasons in Italy, he has scored four goals in 16 appearances this campaign.
