SUNDERLAND will prioritise the purchase of players with Premier League experience when they attempt to strengthen their squad during the January transfer window.

The Black Cats continue to scout players from across Europe, with a senior scouting delegation having attended Austria’s World Cup qualifying draw with Wales last week to watch Martin Hinteregger and Aleksandar Dragovic.

However, while David Moyes will continue to look at potential acquisitions from abroad, he is keen to recruit players with extensive experience of the English top-flight when the transfer window reopens.

Having taken over from Sam Allardyce midway through the summer, the Sunderland boss was unable to adopt a strategic approach to his August transfer dealings as he desperately tried to add sufficient bodies to his squad to guarantee a competitive group of players for the first half of the season.

Didier Ndong, Javier Manquillo and Mika arrived with no previous experience of English football, while the likes of Donald Love, Paddy McNair and Papy Djibolodji had barely played in the Premier League even though they moved from English employers.

Sunderland are still to claim their first league victory of the season, and Moyes has identified the lack of a strong domestic core as a key handicap as he looks to guide his side out of relegation trouble.

Ideally, he would like to add at least two or three players with a proven Premier League pedigree in January, although it remains to be seen whether owner Ellis Short is willing to pay the kind of premium that such players are likely to have placed on them.

Moyes is short of attacking competition for Jermain Defoe, with Victor Anichebe having struggled for fitness since arriving as a free agent, and is also expected to target a creative midfield player to supplement his current starting trio of Ndong, Jan Kirchhoff and Lee Cattermole.

Meanwhile, Vicente Iborra has revealed why he snubbed Sunderland in the summer in order to remain with Spanish side Sevilla.

Sunderland had a £7m bid accepted for Iborra, and were due to begin personal talks with the 28-year-old midfielder, only to be informed that he was not interested in a move to Wearside and was instead set to sign a new deal in Seville.

“They were difficult times,” said Iborra. “On the way to the Villarreal match, it looked like it was already made that I would move to Sunderland. The trip was difficult because, in the hotel, there were several meetings.

“I later learned that the other captains – Vitolo and Daniel Carrico – had asked the club to keep me. If it is something that keeps me here, it is that I have a family in the locker room.”