SUNDERLAND boss David Moyes is considering fielding a three-man central-defensive formation following the deadline-day capture of Jason Denayer.

Denayer moved to Wearside on a season-long loan from Manchester City on Wednesday, with Moyes having been determined to bolster his defensive options despite the retention of Lamine Kone.

With Kone having remained with Sunderland despite sustained interest from Everton, Moyes now has four senior centre-halves at his disposal.

Kone is joined by John O’Shea, who returned to training with the Republic of Ireland today ahead of Monday’s World Cup qualifier with Serbia, Papy Djilobodji and Denayer, and Moyes is pondering a defensive reshuffle to accommodate his recent acquisitions.

“We brought in Jason, who can play centre-half and full-back,” said the Sunderland boss. “They speak incredibly highly of him at Celtic, where he spent time on loan and was named Scottish Young Player of the Year.

“He went and played at Galatasaray last year, and he only came on the market late on Wednesday night. He was interesting to us because I don’t think having Lamine Kone, Papy Djilobodji and John O’Shea was enough to get us through the season.

“With the possibility of injuries and suspensions, you really need four centre-backs. I also wanted him because he gives me the flexibility to play three at the back alongside Kone and Djilobodji, which I will do at times.”

Denayer was one of two deadline-day arrivals on Wearside, with Sunderland also breaking their transfer record to complete the £13.6m capture of midfielder Didier Ndong.

Ndong only became available at the start of the week, and Moyes had to move quickly to land a player he has likened to Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante, who was plucked from relative obscurity in France to play a key role in Leicester City’s title success last season.

“We had been pushing to bring in Ndong for quite a while, but we kept getting the message back that he wouldn’t be leaving,” said Moyes. “It was only two or three days ago that it opened up and there was a chance that we might be able to sign him.

“We like the look of him. He has good energy, he is young and he will improve with time. I think he has a personality to his play. I’m not saying he is another N’Golo Kante, but there is a bit of that in his make-up.”

While the arrival of Denayer and Ndong represented the high point of Sunderland’s deadline-day dealing, there were also frustrations as a number of other deals fell through.

The Black Cats failed to land a goalkeeping alternative to Jordan Pickford, although they continue to talk with FIFA in an attempt to belatedly force through a deal for Boavista’s Mika, and also missed out on a number of strikers as they tried to secure some cover for Jermain Defoe.

Nevertheless, given that he was working from a standing start after replacing Sam Allardyce without a single signing having been made, Moyes was relatively content with his side’s efforts during the window.

“We did some good business early on to get Adnan (Januzaj) in when we did, and (Javier) Manquillo from Atletico Madrid, and now we’ve got a centre-half from Man City and Ndong from France,” he said.

“That’s four players who are 21 or 22 – six including Paddy McNair and Donald Love – and suddenly there’s a group of younger players. What I’ve tried to get is a younger group of players to give us more energy.”

Moyes had also hoped to sign Yann M’Vila, but Rubin Kazan refused to reduce their €10m asking price despite the French midfielder’s contract being due to expire in January.

The Black Cats have signed a pre-contract agreement with M’Vila, and are confident of completing a free transfer at the start of next year.