Sunderland were in a strong position to move to the Championship but a poor end to the season saw them finish outside the direct promotion spots and they fluffed their chances in the playoff finals against Charlton Atheltic. Therefore Jack Ross will have a tough campaign in the League One as he prepares his side for another promotion run.
The Black Cats signed Will Grigg for big money in January, but it became quite clear that he wouldn’t be useful as a lone striker up front. Ross often deployed Charlie Wyke up front in crunch games, and he filled in well as a targetman. Apart from these two, Ross doesn’t have any striker, and we think that the club should look to add one more centre forward to their arsenal.
Whom should Rangers target?
They can consider moving in for Rangers’ striker Kyle Lafferty who is reportedly (Daily Record) unwanted at Ibrox after an underwhelming campaign. Sunderland were even linked with Lafferty in the winter transfer period of 2018 when they were playing in the Championship. The Northern Irish striker then played for Hearts.
Why can Lafferty be a useful signing?
The forward might have had a sub-par spell at Ibrox, but he was often finding it hard to get regular game time as Rangers had Alfredo Morelos in their ranks and added Jermain Defoe to the squad in January. Most of his appearances for the Gers, therefore, came from the bench and he never really managed to get a fair run in the team
Lafferty’s performance in the 2017-18 campaign was an impressive one for Hearts as he scored 19 goals in all competitions. The Northern Ireland international has the experience of playing in some of the biggest competitions, and he has had spells in England before.
Moreover, he is likely to come in cheap as he is in the final year of his contract and Rangers are anyway looking to ship him away. Lafferty has always had the knack of scoring important goals, and we think that he can be still useful in League One at the age of 31. Ross must know a thing or two about Lafferty as he has managed in Scotland before.
Standing over 6ft3, the striker is strong in the air and a livewire in and around the box. Ross can even look to partner him up with someone like Grigg up front. Sunderland should look to bring this 70 times international striker on a short term contract and with Rangers looking to sell the striker, the Wearside outfit should be able to get their man if they can agree on personal terms with the forward.
