SIMON GRAYSON knows of players desperate to make the move to Sunderland and that is exactly how he wants it after learning what has gone wrong in the past at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats boss, who is keen to strike a deal with Middlesbrough for midfielder Grant Leadbitter it has emerged, has looked into why there are financial problems at the Wearside club and an explanation as to why they have struggled for years in the Premier League.

Grayson feels Sunderland, after years of constantly changing managers and players, have made mistakes regularly on the recruitment front and that has taken its toll on the cashflow under owner Ellis Short.

Short has put plenty of cash in during his ownership but the need to try to offer more to certain players just to attract them to the North-East has proven costly; leading to debts in excess of £100m.

Grayson was aware there would not be much money available for new players when he agreed to take over earlier this summer, but he also knew he would have a significantly greater budget to work with than he did at Preston.

He has shown he can wheel and deal already at Sunderland, having spent just over £1m on seven new players. The most expensive was the £500,000 fees paid for Jason Steele and James Vaughan.

He had no problem persuading those to join Sunderland and he believes there are plenty more he knows of who are keen to follow him.

Grayson, whose side travel to Bury tonight in the Carabao Cup, said: “The size of the football club, mostly working with myself, they know what we like and the attraction of playing at the Stadium of Light and the training facilities we have got, this club can go places.

“Sometimes you have to take a step back to go forwards again, that’s the process we are in at this moment in time. Players keep ringing and texting asking to come, embarrassing really because they are other people’s players, but it is part and parcel of what this club can attract to individuals.”

There is still likely to be players moving on before the transfer window closes at the end of this month, with Lamine Kone and Wahbi Khazri two of the main contenders to depart.

And having agreed for Jeremain Lens to leave for an initial £1.7m last weekend – freeing up his expensive Premier League wage – he is thought to have been given the go-ahead to bring in a new player if the terms are right.

Aston Villa striker Ross McCormack and Preston’s Jordan Hugill are two of his top targets, although one would be a loan and the latter commands a £4m fee. Leadbitter, who was an unused substitute for Boro at Wolves last Saturday, is also high in his thinking.

The 31-year-old helped Sunderland, his boyhood club, to promotion in 2007 under Roy Keane. He only has a year remaining on his contract at the Riverside, and Garry Monk has a decision to make over the midfielder’s future.

Whether Sunderland can persuade Middlesbrough to let him go and him to join remains to be seen, although Sunderland manager Grayson insists he will only sign players who want to come and those not only tempted by money.

Grayson said: “Players are coming here for footballing reasons now, 100 per cent, and not financial. That has been the biggest difference I suppose.

“Maybe that has been the difference in the past, when this club has found it hard to attract players to come here then they have had to pay over the odds.

“The salaries can have a burden, and the financial problems can develop when you are left with these players. We know that is stopping at this moment in time.

“Players still get paid decently here believe me, but it is about coming for the right reasons and that’s all it will be from now on.”

Striker James Vaughan fits that bill perfectly. The former Everton striker has had his moments in the Premier League but found himself in League One last season with Bury.

Scoring 24 goals for the Shakers caught the eye of Grayson and he then moved for to sign him in a £500,000 deal – and there were no doubts at all that he wanted to come.

Grayson said: “Vaughan for example, he sampled a lot of quick things when he was younger at Everton as a 16-year-old, his debut. Had some big moves and didn’t quite work out.

“He has matured, definitely has, and maybe had a reality check going to Bury. Used to the big clubs that he has had, last year he had to knuckle down and maybe had to wash his own kit as you do in the lower reaches.

“He maybe sees this as a big second chance and he isn’t going to give up on that. I think we have seen bits of what he is capable of in pre-season games and Friday.”

Vaughan returns to Gigg Lane tonight as a Sunderland player and Grayson must decide whether to name him in the starting line-up.

Tonight’s Carabao Cup game is the team’s first of four matches in nine days and that sort of schedule means Grayson has to weigh up who to play and who to rest. The door could be opened to youngsters such as Elliot Embleton and Joel Asoro.

“The young players could play a big part through the course of the season, if they are good enough they are old enough and they will get a chance,” said Grayson. “In pre-season, Josh Maja and Asoro did well, Embleton, Lynden Gooch, too, and there are others, some may play on Thursday night. They have quality. We have plenty of belief in these players and if they play on Thursday then they have to show what they are capable of doing.

“Bury will be very difficult. I treat this competition very seriously. I like to play the strongest team at this stage to get unity and confidence, you can have all the pre-season games you want but you need competitive games.

“But when you play Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday and then Saturday it is a real juggling act. There will have to be changes because I have to think of the Norwich game, the Sheffield Wednesday one and then Leeds after that. It is four games in nine days and whoever goes out there I’ll need to try to win the game and get in next season.”

Sunderland: Ruiter; Love, Djilobodji, O’Shea, Galloway; Honeyman, Gibson, Embleton, McGeady; Asoro, Vaughan.