Sunderland shocked many Premier League fans with an opening weekend 3-0 win over West Ham. Recently promoted teams have struggled in the Premier League over recent years, with last season’s best promoted side, Leicester City, only earning six wins for the entire season.
Regis Le Bris has overseen the club’s biggest-ever summer spend, and the opening weekend result demonstrates that it’s paying off. However, whilst there is time left in the transfer window, Sunderland are looking to bring in yet another attacker.
Sunderland had previously considered bringing in Leicester City’s Abdul Fatawu, but the Foxes valued him at £30 million, putting him out of the Black Cats’ price range. Le Bris does still want another attacker, however, and so they’ve shifted their attention to a pacey forward currently playing on the continent.
Sunderland plot move for "quick" forward
After deciding against signing Fatawu, Sunderland have swapped their attention to RB Salzburg forward Adam Daghim. Sunderland have extensive experience working with Daghim’s agency, CAA Base LTD, as five of their current players are also registered with them, including Trai Hume and Anthony Patterson.
This report comes from Football Insider, who write that Daghim is currently valued at £11.2 million after the Austrian side signed him for £2.6 million from the Danish Superliga.
Manchester City’s assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders spoke well of Daghim when he was his manager at RB Salzburg, saying: “Adam has great potential. I don’t like to single out individual players, but he has ability, he is quick, he is very committed and has a big heart. He works for the team.”
Sunderland may face competition if they attempt to sign the promising forward, as the report indicates that other Premier League and Bundesliga teams are also interested in signing him. In the past, Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund have been noted as keeping tabs on the player’s development, viewing him as a possible transfer target, but it is currently unclear whether they are among the presently interested teams.
Whilst Daghim is currently featuring in a lot of matches for Salzburg, he is struggling for minutes. In Salzburg's last 13 matches, Daghim has featured in 11 of them, but hasn’t played for more than 45 minutes once. In the Austrian Bundesliga this season, he's only played for 57 minutes but has made a significant impression in those fleeting cameos.
Sunderland could capitalise on the lack of game time that Daghim is receiving by promising him more minutes at the Stadium of Light. The opportunity to prove himself in a more well-regarded league could be an invaluable step in his career progression, as well as being an incentive when Sunderland comes to negotiate personal terms.
Daghim has already proven that he can perform on the highest stage, having scored in the Champions League, most notably against Atlético Madrid and Jan Oblak. Sunderland have already demonstrated this season that they can score goals, but having another option in attack won’t hurt their chances of Premier League survival.