SAM ALLARDYCE has delivered an honest assessment of how difficult it is to get value for money in the January transfer market, claiming that there is a better standard of player available on the continent than in the Premier League.

Allardyce added his third player of the month when experienced goalkeeper Steve Harper followed Jan Kirchhoff and Dame N’Doye in signing for the Black Cats.

And having attracted Kirchhoff and N’Doye from Germany and Turkey respectively, the Sunderland boss is chasing more players from abroad before Monday’s 11pm deadline.

Allardyce has shown an interest in Porto’s French midfielder Giannelli Imbula, along with Stoke City, while he has so far been unable to strike a deal for Lorient’s Lamine Kone and Lamine Gassama.

Those players are an indication of where the majority of Sunderland’s recruitment drive is focused, having been frustrated by how difficult it is to prise away good players from Premier League clubs for realistic fees.

Swansea have repeatedly told Sunderland they will not be selling £14m-rated strikerAndre Ayew, even though it was mooted Fabio Borini could be used as a makeweight in the deal.

“The foreign market has always been better value for money overall,” said Allardyce, who flew to mainland Europe on Sunday to watch players. “The biggest problem is, you shouldn’t really do it in January because the risk is greater.

“But the fact of the matter is there are far more quality players available abroad than there are in this country. Because who wants to sell anybody a player from the Premier League?

“It appears they (Swansea) let Jonjo Shelvey go because, for some reason, they said he was disruptive, I don’t know why or how.”

The reference to Shelvey was to highlight how Newcastle had managed to persuade Swansea to cash in during a month when teams – particularly those fighting to beat the drop – would try to hold onto their best players.

He does not think Newcastle paid over the odds for an England international midfielder with six caps to his name when they agreed to pay Swansea £12m a fortnight ago.

And Allardyce used another Newcastle target, West Brom’s Saido Berahino, as an example of how Premier League clubs can hike up the asking price for players.

“It’s the size of the fees and the lack of players’ availability in this country,” said Allardyce. “I didn’t need a midfield player like Jonjo going up the road. If I’d have needed a midfield player I would have liked Jonjo Shelvey, but I didn’t need one.

“It’s £30m for Berahino. That tag, because he’s English, or because he’s played in this country, or because he’s a home-grown player, because he’s a striker, is the size of the valuation now.

“So spending £10m, £6m, £5m, £15m, is a big number but it isn’t a big number in football any more. It’s massive in terms of how much money it actually is.”

Sunderland owner Ellis Short has given Allardyce the go-ahead to bring in a number of players before Monday night but he is finding that the club’s relegation-threatened position is making it hard to attract players.

One of the easier ones was Harper. The 40-year-old was a free agent and was delighted to be handed the chance to become Sunderland’s cover for Jordan Pickford and Vito Mannone following Costel Pantilimon’s exit.

Easington-born Harper’s arrival has caused a stir on Tyneside, where he spent 20 years on the Magpies pay-roll and he is surprised by some of the criticism he has received since deciding to join Sunderland.

He said: “There was always going to be a reaction but I am not the first, I certainly won’t be the last and bigger and better players than me have played for both clubs with no issues.

“I think I am the first to do it in the new social media age so I read the script and deactivated my Twitter account before I signed so as not to get involved.

“But every message I have had from friends, ex-colleagues and even genuine hardcore Newcastle fans have said ‘great to see you back in the game and good luck’.”