JACK ROSS is hoping to complete the signing of Dylan McGeouch at the start of next week, but the Sunderland boss admits the rest of his summer transfer business will be dependent on who leaves the Stadium of Light.

Ross has added Jon McLaughlin, Alim Ozturk, Tom Flanagan and Chris Maguire to the ranks since taking over at the start of the summer, and is keen to make McGeouch his fifth new addition.

McGeouch, who is available on a free transfer after coming to the end of his contract with Hibernian, visited Sunderland’s Academy of Light training ground last week to hold talks with Ross.

He has subsequently met officials from Rangers and Aberdeen, but is understood to have expressed a desire to move to Wearside despite Sunderland’s relegation to League One.

The 25-year-old earned his maiden international cap with Scotland at the start of the month, and will add some welcome attacking creativity to the Black Cats’ new-look midfield.

He will be the most high-profile of Sunderland’s recent additions, and provided he signs at the start of next week, his arrival will end the first phase of Ross’ summer overhaul.

Attention will then switch to who is set to leave the Stadium of Light, with Lamine Kone, Papy Djilobodji, Lee Cattermole and George Honeyman all expected to move elsewhere despite having returned to training earlier this week. Wahbi Khazri and Bryan Oviedo are also available for sale, although they have been granted an extended break due to their participation in the World Cup.

Paddy McNair’s £5m move to Middlesbrough and the termination of Jack Rodwell’s contract have helped free up the funds required to make this month’s additions, but Ross admits Financial Fair Play regulations dictate that further incomings will be impossible without additional departures.

“We’re hopeful there’ll be one more signing in the early part of next week,” said the Sunderland boss. “Then maybe we’ll have to wait and see who leaves us or who moves on.

“There’s a constant balancing act with that for us, for a number of reasons, not just in terms of the squad numbers. People will understand the financial aspect of that, not in terms of a lack of resources, but more because of the regulations.

“For me, as a manager, I understand that aspect of the game. I know where we’re at, so I’m not ever going to complain about it. I knew that before I came in. I knew there was going to be this juggling act through this period.

“Don’t get me wrong, I think everybody would like do things nice and early and clean, so we know where we’re at. But that was never going to be the case. Hopefully, it will be one more in, then we’ll see how the next week or so after that goes.”

There is an expectation that a number of senior players will leave before the transfer window closes at the start of August, and that will leave gaps within the squad that need to be plugged.

Ross has had 16 players training with him this week, but four or five of those have been youngsters with little or no senior experience.

Max Stryjek, Andrew Nelson, Denver Hume, Elliott Embleton, Ethan Robson and Bali Mumba will be included in the squad that travels to Portugal for a warm-weather training camp on Sunday, and Luke Molyneux would also have been selected had he not picked up a minor knock.

All of those youngsters are in contention for a senior squad place next season, but Ross admits another five or six signings are likely to be required once players begin to move on.

“When I was doing planning for the job, I was probably looking at eight to ten signings,” he said. “But that was dependent on who left the club, and it might fluctuate.

“We’ve got four in at the moment, but by the time pre-season reaches its conclusion, I think eight to ten in total will not be too far away.

“It’s a big turnaround, and it will be a bit bumpy at times, but we will get there and hopefully the sooner the better.”