SUNDERLAND are confident of completing the loan capture of midfield duo Yann M’Vila and Leroy Fer before the opening weekend of the season, with head coach Dick Advocaat delighted with the level of support he has received from the club’s owner, Ellis Short, this summer.

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While the Black Cats’ players completed their pre-season preparations with a 1-0 win over German side Hannover on Saturday, managing director Lee Congerton was discussing loan moves for M’Vila and Fer with officials at Rubin Kazan and QPR respectively.

Connor Wickham will complete a £9m move to Crystal Palace later today, and Sunderland have wasted no time in taking advantage of the financial leeway created by the striker’s departure.

M’Vila’s capture will be something of a coup as the 25-year-old central midfielder was regarded as one of the most exciting players in Europe when he helped France reach the quarter-finals of Euro 2012.

He subsequently made a €12m move to Rubin Kazan, but his spell in Russia has been a troubled one. He joined Inter Milan on loan last summer, only for the Italian club to pull out of a proposed permanent transfer, and has been in discussions with Dynamo Moscow about a potential switch to the Russian capital.

His arrival on Wearside will provide Sunderland with the kind of driving midfield presence they have lacked in recent seasons, and should speed up the departure of Liam Bridcutt, who finds himself at the bottom of a lengthy pecking order.

Fer is a more creative midfielder than M’Vila, and is set to join on a season-long loan from QPR as the London club continue to address their finances following their relegation to the Championship.

An 11-time Holland international, the 25-year-old started his career with Feyenoord and FC Twente before moving on to Norwich City and QPR.

He scored six Premier League goals as QPR finished bottom of the table last season, and his transfer should be confirmed in time for him to compete for a place in the Sunderland squad for the opening-day trip to Leicester this Saturday.

Advocaat, who still wants to recruit an additional centre-forward before the transfer window closes, cited the improvement of the squad as a pre-requisite for his decision to shelve his retirement plans earlier this summer, and with M’Vila and Fer set to make it six new additions, the Dutchman is delighted with the backing he has received from Short.

“I think the chairman is doing great,” said Advocaat, who has been offered the chance to sign Brazilian striker Alexandre Pato. “He has been really great in terms of the support he has given because it is not just about bringing players in, he has also had to work with some of the things that have been here for the last couple of years.

“So it’s not just about what we do now, it’s also about working through some of the things that were already here. He is very willing to do everything he can for the team, and has been very positive whenever we have talked.”

Wickham’s departure was an important development in terms of limiting the extent of this summer’s total financial outlay, and the striker’s move to Selhurst Park should be formally confirmed later today.

Advocaat did not really want to lose the former England Under-21 international, but accepts he would have been left with too many strikers if someone had not left the Stadium of Light this summer.

“We have too many strikers, and if I could have held on to them all, I wouldn’t really have wanted to sell him at just 22 years of age,” he said. “But we simply had too many players in that position, and that’s why the decision was made.”

In the absence of both Wickham and the injured Steven Fletcher, Sunderland rounded off their pre-season programme with an impressive display in Hannover’s HDI Arena.

Younes Kaboul partnered Sebastian Coates at the heart of the back four, and while John O’Shea came off the bench to replace the Frenchman in the 56th minute, there is a strong chance that Saturday’s defensive starting line-up will also be the formation that kicks off at the King Power Stadium in five days time.

“He (Kaboul) feels good,” said Advocaat. “I asked him how he was feeling at half-time, and he said that his legs were really good. He played 60 minutes or so and that is really good. He’s a good player. He’s quick and strong in the air, and that’s just what we need.”

Lens carried on where he left off at Doncaster on Wednesday night, producing a bright and inventive display on the left-hand side which was capped by the only goal of the game in the 73rd minute. The Dutchman dispossessed Salif Sane before drilling a 20-yard strike into the bottom left-hand corner.

Sunderland were almost robbed of victory in the final minute when Hannover were awarded a hugely controversial penalty despite O’Shea doing no more than brush shoulders with Charlison Benschop, but Costel Pantilimon saved Benschop’s spot-kick before also keeping out Andre Hoffman’s follow-up effort.

“Any time you come to Germany and get a win, it’s a good thing,” said Advocaat. “We could see some things during the game that we still have to improve, but we have a week to do that.

“That’s what we have to work on, making the team better. We didn’t give a lot of chances away, which was a positive, but we still have to work on pressuring the ball earlier.”

Hannover (4-4-1-1): Zieler; Sakai, Schulz (Hoffmann 68), Felipe, Sorg; Klaus (Saint-Maximin 53), Schmeidebach, Sane, Prib (Benschop 68); Karaman; Erdinc.

Subs (not used): Tschauner (gk), Albornoz, Gulselam, Sobiech, Hirsch, Marcelo, Anton.

Sunderland (4-3-3): Pantilimon; Jones, Coates, Kaboul (O’Shea 56), van Aanholt; Larsson, Cattermole (Giaccherini 56), Rodwell; Johnson, Defoe, Lens.

Subs (not used): Mannone (gk), Matthews, Bridcutt, Graham, Watmore.