Sunderland are adding to their stable of summer acquisitions again today, picking up Birmingham midfielder Craig Gardner and, perhaps more excitingly, 20-year-old Chunnam Dragons forward Ji Dong-Won, who's finally arrived at the Stadium of Light following apparent issues with his work permit. The news comes just days after the Black Cats announced the acquisition of highly-rated England under-21 international Connor Wickham, and with new signings expected to follow throughout the week we're looking at a major revamp for Steve Bruce's side.
Sunderland Sign Craig Gardner, Ji Dong-Won
All three of Gardner, Wickham, and Dong-Won will add some goalscoring prowess to a team which had been missing a pure scorer in the wake of Darren Bent's departure to Aston Villa in the January transfer window, but it's the latter two who are the most interesting (with all due respect to Gardner). Wickham's been closely watched by prospect mavens for years now and managed to hold his own as an 18-year-old in the Championship with Ipswich, while Dong-Won has been described by SB Nation Sunderland blog Roker Report as being a little like a 'Korean Danny Welbeck' - they also noted that he had received high praised from none other than Asamoah Gyan.
Going for youth and potential over established mediocrity is one way in which Sunderland can escape the mid-table doldrums, and it’ll be fascinating to see how their gamble pays out. Meanwhile, Bruce has offloaded the disappointing Cristian Riveros to Turkish outfit Kayserispor, which will presumably improve the team as well.
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