"Get them out" - Pundit backs Regis Le Bris' triple Sunderland AFC transfer call | OneFootball

Carlton Palmer discussed Sunderland's plans to offload fringe players in January

Carlton Palmer has backed Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris' plan to offload a trio of fringe players when the January transfer window opens.

The Northern Echo have reported that Black Cats trio Nazariy Rusyn, Abdoullah Ba and Adil Aouchiche will be allowed to leave the Stadium of Light in January, with Le Bris admitting that the trio need to head elsewhere if they are going to start playing regular football.

It's been a difficult campaign for all three players who have struggled to break into the Sunderland team, with Le Bris reportedly planning to work without them this season as he expected the trio to leave in the summer.

However, they remained in the North East, but have made just 12 appearances between them in all competitions, with Rusyn leading the way with seven of those, but he's yet to start a Championship game.

With none of the players in Le Bris' plans for the rest of the season, Palmer believes it makes sense to move them on and look to bring in players who will feature during the second half of the season.

Former England international Palmer has praised Le Bris for being decisive ahead of the transfer window opening, and believes that a good January transfer window could help the Black Cats remain in the mix for promotion.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Palmer said: "Sunderland have decided that they are ready to move on certain squad players; Aouchiche, Ba and Rusyn.

“At the end of the day, the manager has made his mind up. The squad players are not part of what he’s trying to do, and he needs to freshen it up a little bit now.

“Sunderland have dipped in form a little bit of late, they’re still sat in fourth place in the Championship on 37 points. They are five points behind leaders Sheffield United and he (Le Bris) needs to freshen it up a little bit as they’ve just drawn too many games.

“They’ve won ten games, but they’ve drawn seven games, and they need to change those seven games. If you look at Sheffield United and Leeds United, they’ve both only drawn five games respectively, and they’ve won 13 and 12, so they’re not far off.

“They’ve got a young squad, and they’ve done very well so far, the manager just wants to freshen it up, and it’s the right thing to do.

“Get them out and off the wage bill, and then you can bring in the players who can help you to push on because you’re looking at the squad players thinking ‘can I make changes, can I rest the players, can they do the job’?

"If the manager’s convinced that they’re not able to help the team achieve what he wants them to do, then it’s really an important decision to get them out now, identify the players they want for the second part of the season now and hopefully make a fist of it.

“It’s going to be really tight until the end of the season. If you look now and go down to Watford in eighth place, on 31 points and Sheffield United on 42 means there’s 11 points separating eight teams, so it’s going to be one hell of a chase in the second half of the season and Sunderland will want to prepare themselves for that.”

Regis Le Bris' transfer call makes perfect sense for Sunderland

It's pointless keeping fringe players at the club who are unlikely to play and the wages saved on offloading the trio could bring in a player or two that is able to contribute to the cause from January onwards.

The trio of players all featured regularly last season but have fallen down the pecking order, and at their ages they should all want to be out playing regular football elsewhere instead of sitting on the bench or even failing to make the matchday squad.

Rusyn, Aouchiche and Ba are all talented players in their own right, so they will want to play regular football, and a move away from the Stadium of Light, whether that be on loan or on a permanent basis, should suit all parties in January.

By admitting that they're free to leave prior to the transfer window opening, Le Bris is giving the players clarity, and it will alert clubs that they're available next month, so it was a sensible thing to do by the Sunderland boss.