DAVID MOYES is confident there will be no hangover from Lamine Kone’s dalliance with Everton during the transfer window, and expects the centre-half to sign a new contract with Sunderland shortly.

Sunderland turned down two Everton bids for Kone last month, the second of which was worth more than £21m, and while the Ivory Coast international insists he did not submit a transfer request, there was clearly a point where he was hoping to force through a move to Goodison Park.

Moyes publicly questioned the validity of the ‘back injury’ that kept Kone out of the 2-1 defeat to Middlesbrough, but the 27-year-old returned to produce a solid display in the 1-1 draw with Southampton that preceded the international break.

With the transfer window now closed, Kone’s representatives are set to meet Sunderland officials next week to discuss a proposed new deal, and Moyes is confident there will be no ill effects from last month’s fall out.

“I’ve had nothing but smiles from him,” said Moyes, with Kone set to start Monday’s home game with Everton. “It’s always difficult, and I’ve seen it a little bit before.

“I know what happens, once the window shuts, it changes everything. I hope he will have signed a new contract shortly. I’ve not got the news to say he has yet, but there have been plenty of discussions.

“I think there are some already pencilled in for next week some time. We hope to do that. He’s still got four years left on his contract, so it’s not as if we are scraping around because we are short of time.”

Had things turned out differently last month, Kone could have been lining up in the opposition ranks in two days’ time.

As it is, he will be Sunderland’s key defender in the next few months, with Moyes having to decide whether to pair him with Papy Djilobodji, Jason Denayer or John O’Shea.

“I wanted Kone to stay all the time,” said Moyes. “There was never any hint that we wanted anything else. On the journey, as you are improving, you will lose players. It happens. While you are a club like this, your better players will be tapped and approached by the bigger clubs.

“Sometimes, it will be right to say, ‘Fine, we need to take the money because we need to reinvest and go again’. But because of the shortness of the window, because of the lack of availability, I couldn’t let Kone go. He was too important to us.

“The biggest thing about Kone is that he’s got massive improvement in him to come. I hope the work we can do will help that.

“We took (Joleon) Lescott and (Phil) Jagielka (at Everton) – they had to replace (David) Weir and (Alan) Stubbs. And we had (Joseph) Yobo from Nigeria.

“It took them a while to bed in because the Premier League is difficult, but I hope the work we can do with Kone, Papy and Jason will improve them. It will take time, it’s not just instant. But Kone came in and showed he is a good player already with what he has done.”

While Sunderland are guaranteed Kone’s services until Christmas, they will almost certainly have to survive without him in January as he will be in Gabon competing in the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Black Cats are also set to lose Wahbi Khazri and Didier Ndong to the tournament, and they could also lose Djilobodji if he is recalled to the Senegal squad.

That will place an already stretched squad under considerable strain, and Moyes concedes Sunderland will have to re-enter the transfer market at the turn of the year.

He will not be adding more free agents following the signing of Victor Anichebe at the end of last week, but admits he was unable to do everything he had been targeting prior to the closure of the transfer window.

“A lot of free transfers are being offered in a lot of positions,” he said. “I can name you half-a-dozen that have been put to me in the last few days. But I am not going to bring in any more players unless there is a bad injury or something.

“I would rather now see if we can get some quality, and look to see what we might purchase or be available to me in January if possible.

“There were bits of it I wasn’t happy with in the window, or that I thought was disappointing, but there were also bits I thought were good. It was the first transfer window and it was a short one. We had to try to get enough in to give us a real chance.”

Jan Kirchhoff and Lee Cattermole are back in full training, but while the former is likely to feature in Monday’s squad after playing for the full 90 minutes of Tuesday’s Checkatrade Trophy game at Rochdale, the latter will not be rushed as he returns from a long-term absence.

“It’s too early for Lee,” said Moyes. “He needs minutes and is coming back from a double hernia, so we don’t want to be flogging him too soon. But he is looking fine in training and has come back quickly which is good. We’ll get him involved when the time is right.”