SUNDERLAND will continue to focus heavily on overseas markets when they look to improve their squad during the January transfer window.

When it comes to recruitment and sourcing new signings, the Black Cats have attempted to head down a markedly different path since Kyril Louis-Dreyfus assumed ownership of the club, with sporting director, Kristjaan Speakman, having been tasked with developing a recruitment model that is focused on the pursuit and acquisition of young, unproven talent from all over the world.

That model led to tensions with former boss Alex Neil, who grew frustrated at the club’s unwillingness to sign more proven and expensive players from within the Football League, but Tony Mowbray appears much more willing to buy in to the new approach.

Sunderland signed four players in the final week of the summer transfer window, three of whom came from overseas – Jewison Bennette (Herediano), Edouard Michut (Paris St Germain) and Abdoullah Ba (Le Havre) – and with the trio gradually starting to integrate themselves into the first team, their arrival is regarded as something of a template for future deals.

There will be an attempt to make further acquisitions when the transfer window reopens at the start of next year, but Sunderland are unlikely to be raiding their Championship rivals for potential signings, with their sights set much further afield.

“You’ve got to have an identity as a club – that makes sense to me,” said Mowbray, whose side signed off for the World Cup break with an impressive 2-1 win at Birmingham City on Friday night. “Why it hasn’t been like that for so long, I don’t know.

“I had an interview for this job, and so I fully understood what I was coming into. It’s the first time I’ve been called a head coach, and I’m happy with that. I think we can develop players here.

“Recruitment is such a massive department in any club – you have to put the hours in, and the travel in scanning the world for the players who can do the job for you.”

Sunderland’s recruitment model means they are unlikely to be pursuing highly-paid players coming towards the end of their careers, such as Blackburn outcast Bradley Dack, who has been linked with a possible reunion with Mowbray but who does not really fit the mould of what the Black Cats are trying to create.

Instead, it is much more likely that Speakman and the rest of the recruitment operation will be sounding out more players like Bennette and Ba, who are regarded as exciting long-term prospects rather than stop-gap signings aimed at plugging a short-term gap.

“Bradley, I think, is 28,” said Mowbray, when asked directly about the speculation regarding Dack last week. “Does that fit the profile of what the club is trying to do? I’d think (signing him) is very unlikely, and the financial aspect of it is very definitely unlikely.

“We’ve had conversations, and we know what areas we’d like to strengthen. At this moment, I haven’t seen the list that the recruitment department is putting together. I don’t know the levels of financial support there will be for signing the players in the positions that we want to sign.”

Behind the scenes, Sunderland have been working to build up their recruitment networks in various parts of the world, and it was no coincidence that Louis-Dreyfus was sat next to Gerhard Struber, head coach of MLS side New York Red Bulls, in the directors’ box at St Andrew’s on Friday night.

Struber, who was previously manager of Barnsley, is a key figure in the MLS coaching scene, and Sunderland are far from the only English club who regard the United States as an attractive breeding ground for emerging youngsters who are keen for an opportunity to prove themselves in Europe.

South America is another important market, with Sunderland already boasting a significant foothold on the continent thanks to their co-owner, Juan Sartori.

“It’s good that we are in the market of South America,” said Mowbray. “When you look at the make-up of our board, we have South American influences. Recruitment is quite interesting and exciting. I don’t think we are generally in the market for the stereotypical British-type player that might cost over the odds.”