Sam Allardyce: 'The hardest part of our January recruitment is still to come'

Allardyce has recruited four players since the transfer window opened, but while Steve Harper, Lamine Kone and Jan Kirchhoff should help reinforce the Black Cats defence, Dame N’Doye is the only arrival to play in the attacking third.

With Danny Graham having left to join Blackburn, that leaves Sunderland short of firepower with just three days of the window remaining and Allardyce is currently pursuing a number of options in an attempt to engineer a breakthrough.

However, with Premier League clubs reluctant to sell to one of their rivals, overseas clubs charging a premium because of the English top-flight’s forthcoming new television deal and Sunderland’s ability to recruit players hampered by the size of the current wage bill, Allardyce admits he is finding it extremely difficult to land a player capable of transforming his side’s attacking fortunes.

“It’s the hardest part of the team to strengthen, but you have to keep looking don’t you,” said the Black Cats boss, who saw Sebastian Coates complete his season-long loan to Sporting Lisbon yesterday afternoon. “You have to keep trying.

“It’s the hardest, and that’s why we haven’t got one yet apart from Dame. We hope he can do what he did for Hull last year, scoring five goals in 13 games.

“I’m looking for goals, whatever position that comes from. If someone has a decent goals record of one in three or one in four, I’d be interested, as long as he does the right things outside the box as well of course.

“It’s goals and quality in the final third that we’re looking for. I think we get into the final third as much as anybody, and we produce opportunities when we get there, but I think our quality in that final third hasn’t been as good as it should be. I have to try to make that better.”

Allardyce had been hoping to recruit Ayew, and was prepared to put together a package that would have seen Sunderland pay around £10m and include Fabio Borini in a deal for the Ghana international.

Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins has consistently rebuffed Allardyce’s advances though, and while there is still a chance a deal could be resurrected in the same way that Kone’s move from Lorient was revived, as things stand Sunderland’s interest in Ayew is at an end.

“Have we given up? Yes,” said Allardyce. “I can’t see Swansea selling Andre Ayew. I never really thought they would to be honest, and we haven’t put a bid in. It was a bit more speculation about whether Swansea would let him go.”

As well as pursuing Ayew, Allardyce has also offered Arsenal defender Mathieu Debuchy the chance to join Sunderland on a season-long loan.

Aston Villa and West Ham have also held discussions with the Frenchman, but Allardyce is no longer convinced Debuchy will leave the Emirates this month, even though his first-team prospects with Arsenal are all but non-existent.

“I’m not sure he really wants to leave Arsenal, or that Arsene Wenger would let him go.” he said.

Allardyce is a veteran of wheeling and dealing in transfer windows, but the 61-year-old admits the advent of Financial Fair Play regulations has made it harder than ever to successfully add to your squad.

Coates’ departure helped facilitate Kone’s arrival, and the exit of another two or three players in the next few days would make it even easier for Allardyce to make further additions ahead of Monday’s 11pm deadline.

Jordi Gomez is available for a permanent move, and Adam Matthews is set to leave Wearside on loan, but Steven Fletcher has expressed a reluctance to move on with less than six months of his current contract remaining.

“For the first time ever, you’re balancing finance,” said Allardyce. “So Seb’s gone out to help balance the finance for Kone coming in. It’s a balance of having to move out the finances if you want to bring things in.

“You can’t just do it like we used to in the past, you have to be more active with the outs as well as ins than ever before.

“We don’t have to get rid of an attacker (to bring one in) just yet. There are other players on the fringe, like Jordi Gomez, that may go out. Adam Matthews hasn’t played much, and he’s looking to get some first-team football too. If we can move on those type of players, it clears some room in terms of wages.”

Kone’s £5m move from Lorient was completed on Wednesday, and with the centre-half having played in the majority of his previous side’s matches this season, there is every chance of him going straight into the starting line-up for next Tuesday’s game with Manchester City.

“He’s played all the time for Lorient, so I don’t think his fitness should be an issue,” said Allardyce. “He played last week, and I see his fitness levels as being okay to go straight in.

“Hopefully, he’ll be able to cope with the quality at this level. We’ll take that risk, and hope it pays off. It’s a calculated risk in that sense.

“Hopefully, he’ll help bring us more clean sheets. That’s where we’ve been lacking in the time since I’ve been here. If he can help in that department, he’ll be the most effective thing to help get us out of trouble.”