STEWART DONALD remains confident Sunderland will successfully remodel their squad this summer, despite having suffered a frustrating start to the transfer window.

The Black Cats had hoped to have made considerable progress in the last couple of weeks, but their attempts to recruit players have been thwarted.

An attempt to sign Swiss striker Florian Kamberi came to nothing when Hibernian triggered a clause in their loan deal for the Grasshoppers forward, and Peterborough outflanked the Black Cats to secure a £200,000 deal for Ross County full-back Jason Naismith.

Sunderland’s attempts to land Hibs duo John McGinn and Dylan McGeouch have also failed to come to fruition, but Donald remains unconcerned at the club’s failure to make a single season since the end of last season.

“I would be pretty sure at this stage of the transfer window less than ten per cent of player signings have been made,” tweeted Donald. “There are still lots of players on holiday and hundreds still available. The player movements will start soon I am sure. We have offers out and lots of targets.”

As well as looking to make signings, Sunderland remain keen to move on a number of members of the current squad.

Lamine Kone, Papy Djilobodji, Didier Ndong, Lee Cattermole and Wahbi Khazri are all available for sale, but Donald is adamant the Black Cats will not be held to ransom despite their recent relegation to League One.

Turkish side Besiktas have offered to take Khazri on a two-year loan, which would take him to the end of his current contract, but despite the Tunisian international’s sky-high wages, Donald is adamant he will not be allowed to leave for free. “Unless we get a decent fee, he will be back here playing,” said the Sunderland owner.

Rennes have offered to turn Khazri’s previous loan deal into a permanent transfer, but as he prepares to take on England in Tunisia’s World Cup opener on Monday, the winger would prefer to keep his options open.

Marseille, Lyon and Nice have all been linked with a possible deal, and Khazri would prefer to join either of those sides ahead of Rennes.

Khazri has been struggling with a thigh injury, but has been passed fit to line up against England in Volgograd in three days’ time.