SAM ALLARDYCE will attempt to round off his January spending with the addition of a full-back after his search for an attacking acquisition finally came to an end on Saturday afternoon.

Wahbi Khazri became the Black Cats’ fifth signing of the transfer window when he completed a £9m move from French side Bordeaux, and the Tunisian attacking midfielder will go straight into the squad for tomorrow’s home game with Manchester City.

Khazri is the second-highest provider of assists in Ligue 1 this season, and having finally concluded there was no chance of prising Andre Ayew from Swansea City, Allardyce moved quickly to secure the 24-year-old’s services at the end of last week.

The African follows Jan Kirchhoff, Dame N’Doye, Steve Harper and Lamine Kone into the Stadium of Light, but Allardyce is hoping to pull off one more deal before the transfer window closes at 11pm.

He remains concerned at a lack of defensive cover, especially in the full-back positions, and had hoped to persuade Arsenal’s Mathieu Debuchy to sign on a season-long loan.

That remains a possibility, with discussions having continued over the weekend, but Debuchy is understood to be edging towards a move to Aston Villa despite the Midlands club’s position at the foot of the Premier League table.

Debuchy has also been offered a loan deal at Villa Park, with Villa prepared to pay a £1.5m loan fee as well as the defender’s £60,000-a-week wages, and geographical issues are likely to be a key factor in his final decision.

Ideally, Debuchy does not want to leave London, so a short-term switch to Birmingham makes more appeal than a move to the North-East as the former Newcastle United right-back attempts to play his way into the France squad for this summer’s European Championships.

Allardyce has been monitoring alternative defensive targets based overseas in the last week or so, and will attempt to force through a loan deal before the window closes.

His main piece of attacking business was concluded over the weekend, with Khazri signing a four-and-a-half year deal at the Stadium of Light.

The Tunisian started his career with Bastia, progressing through the ranks and making almost 200 appearances during a five-year spell that saw the Corsican club achieve back-to-back promotions to Ligue 1.

He earned his maiden international call-up in 2013, and joined Bordeaux a year later before going on to make more than 50 senior appearances during his 18 months on France’s west coast.

He has claimed seven assists and five goals during his 20 Ligue 1 appearances this season – only Paris St Germain’s Angel Di Maria has been responsible for setting up more goals – and has been handed Sunderland’s number 22 shirt.

“I’m very happy to play for Sunderland,” said Khazri. “It’s amazing because I’ve always wanted to play in the Premier League. For me, it’s the best league in Europe. I’m very excited to be here, and want to play my first game.

“I spoke with my friend Henri Saivet, who plays for Newcastle. They are one of the rivals of Sunderland, but he said it was the best league to be in and that the people are fantastic.”

Khazri will be involved in tomorrow’s game against Manchester City, a match that kicks off a daunting 11-day run that will also see Sunderland take on Liverpool and Manchester United.

“In football, things happen very fast,” said Khazri. “If you win two games, you quickly go up (the table). Sunderland have three very important games – Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United – if we win two games minimum, it will be a very good series.

“In France, when you play against Paris St Germain it is a big game. In England, when you play City, Liverpool or Manchester United, it’s a very big game. I’m very excited.”

Allardyce remains hopeful of moving on some of his fringe players before the window closes, with Jordi Gomez available for a permanent departure and Adam Matthews attracting considerable loan interest from clubs in the Championship.

Steven Fletcher has been linked with a possible loan move to West Ham United, although the Scotsman is expected to remain on Wearside to see out his existing contract before completing a free transfer to Celtic in the summer.

Meanwhile, Ola Toivonen was part of a Sunderland development team that played out a goalless draw with Chelsea yesterday afternoon.