SUNDERLAND were by far the busiest of the North-East clubs on transfer-deadline day, signing three players, allowing two to leave on loan, and successfully holding on to two of their most valuable assets in Lamine Kone and Didier Ndong.

Callum McManaman signed on a two-year deal from West Brom, with Marc Wilson penning a one-year deal to complete a free transfer from Bournemouth and Jonny Williams agreeing a season-long loan from Crystal Palace.

Wahbi Khazri joined French side Rennes on loan for the remainder of the season, with Papy Djilobodji making a similar move to Dijon, but Sunderland failed to recruit another forward with their long-standing interest in Aston Villa’s Ross McCormack ultimately coming to nothing.

Nevertheless, Simon Grayson will still be satisfied with the club’s last-minute business, and will head into the next few months confident he has a squad capable of improving the Black Cats’ current position in the bottom half of the Championship table.

McManaman joined as a free agent after West Brom agreed to release him from the final year of his contract at the Hawthorns.

The 26-year-old winger came through the youth set-up at Wigan Athletic, and was extremely highly-rated when he made a £4.75m move to the Baggies in January 2015.

However, he made just 25 senior appearances for West Brom, and spent the second half of last season on loan at Sheffield Wednesday, making two Championship starts and nine substitute appearances.

He moves to Wearside with a considerable point to prove, but could be a valuable asset if he rediscovers the form he displayed during the early stages of his career.

Wilson also completed a free transfer to the Stadium of Light, having been the subject of competing interest from West Brom and Hull City earlier in the window.

The 30-year-old is a versatile defender, who can play at centre-half, full-back or in defensive midfield.

Having started his career with Portsmouth, he spent six years with Stoke City before joining Bournemouth in 2016. Again, he has a point to prove, as he failed to make much of an impression at the Vitality Stadium and was farmed out on loan to West Brom in the second half of last season.

Williams, who has moved to Wearside on loan, is a 23-year-old midfielder who represented Wales at last summer’s European Championships.

He made an eight-hour journey from Cardiff, where is currently on international duty, to complete a medical at the Academy of Light yesterday afternoon, and is set to be part of the Wales squad for tomorrow’s World Cup qualifier with Austria.

A product of the Crystal Palace youth system, he has had previous loan spells with Ipswich Town, Nottingham Forest and MK Dons.

The arrival of the trio means Grayson was able to make ten additions before the window closed, although it could still be argued that Sunderland are short of attacking firepower and could struggle if anything was to happen to their leading goalscorer Lewis Grabban.

The Black Cats ended their interest in McCormack once Aston Villa made it clear they would not budge on their insistence that the Black Cats paid the vast majority of the Scottish striker’s wages, and also withdrew their interest in defender Tommy Elphick when Villa rejected a £1m offer.

Khazri’s departure was confirmed an hour or so before the window closed, with the Tunisian winger set to spend the remainder of the season with Rennes.

He had made no attempt to hide his desire to leave Wearside this month, and while the Sunderland hierarchy had initially been looking to secure a permanent transfer, they agreed to a loan deal once it became apparent their financial demands for a sale would not be met.

“It was important to me to find the pleasure of playing, and I think I can do it here,” said Khazri. “I want to show what I can do, and find the taste of football that I lost a bit.

“I have a lot of years’ experience in Ligue 1. Playing in the Premier League brought me a lot. I experienced a stronger game and pressure in England. I matured at this level. I hope to bring my qualities and experience of a high level to this group, while remaining myself. I will do it with pleasure.”

Like Khazri, Djilobodji was deemed surplus to requirements by Grayson, and despite only moving to Wearside in an £8m switch from Chelsea last summer, the centre-half was given the green light to join Dijon for the rest of the summer. Given his failure to cut the mustard at the Stadium of Light, it seemed an apt destination.

Third-choice goalkeeper Max Stryjek also left Wearside on loan, penning a deal with League Two side Accrington Stanley.