Mendy joins: 2 signings Sunderland AFC should try make before Cardiff match on August 10th | OneFootball

The Black Cats look to be moving in the right direction under their new head coach.

After a dismal 2023/24 campaign, Sunderland appear to have sorted their issues and are now back on track under Regis Le Bris.

Last season brought much pain and suffering to the Stadium of Light, and with that negative feeling came negative results.

16th was where they ended up finishing in the Championship, just one year on from finishing sixth.

It was a downfall that not many saw coming, but one that unfolded in front of our eyes. It took until this summer and the confirmation of Le Bris as the new head coach to feel like a change was coming, and it looks to be here.

There's a new buzz on Wearside and part of that is due to the steering away from the ardent youth-first recruitment policy that dominated the Black Cats' last summer window.

They've added players with experience, which is something that Le Bris has said that he wanted to do, but the work isn't over yet. There are still a couple of players that Sunderland should look to acquire before their match against Cardiff City on 10th August.

1 Alexandre Mendy

Beninese striker Alexandre Mendy has been heavily linked with a move to the Stadium of Light. He was supposedly in the country for a medical last week ahead of his move to Sunderland from French side Caen, but nothing has materialised on that front yet.

Regardless of that, Mendy is expected to be a Black Cat sooner or later, but it would be nice if he could be in the building before the opening game of the campaign.

He has scored at a good rate in Ligue, finding the net 60 times over the past three seasons, and his positional sense within the box should fit the boss' system.

Sunderland are looking to offload some attacking options this summer in Jewison Bennette and Luis Hemir. Their striking options with that pair weren't exactly plentiful, and the number of players that Le Bris will have to work with at the position will recede even more without them.

This makes the arrival of Mendy all the more necessary, especially in time for the match against the Bluebirds.

2 Ben Nelson

Yet another player that is an apparent target of Le Bris, Ben Nelson would help bolster the new boss' defensive options. The Leicester City centreback is someone that the Black Cats are looking at making a loan move for, according to Michael Graham.

The England under-20 played a handful of games for the Foxes last time out in the Championship and would fit with the much reduced but still present desire from those at the top to bring younger players to Sunderland.

He wouldn't be a complete punt either. The loan terms make the relationship between the two a bit more non-committal, so, if Sunderland don't fancy him, the two can eventually part ways, and he has some experience at the level already, despite being 20.

They definitely need more options in the middle of defence. After Dan Ballard and Luke O'Nien, there's not an abundance of alternatives for the French head coach to turn to if needs be.

Both of those two have strong injury records, so the necessity for first-team quality back-up isn't quite as strong, but it's still something that needs to be addressed.