Moyes: Sunderland struggles means signing players is tough

David Moyes: Fears a difficult month for recruitment

David Moyes: Future under the spotlight

Sunderland’s current predicament means it will be difficult to sign players this month, manager David Moyes has conceded.

For the second straight season the Black Cats have opened a new calendar year languishing in the bottom three after Burnley dispatched them 4-1 at Turf Moor on New Year’s Eve.

Last January, when then-manager Sam Allardyce signed Lamine Kone, Wahbi Khazri and Jan Kirchhoff, the winter-window business inspired an upturn in form to ensure safety, yet the club have recently warned Moyes he has limited funds to use this time around.

The extent of his kitty may become clearer after imminent conversations with owner Ellis Short, although Moyes is concerned that the possibility of relegation could deter potential signings from joining Sunderland’s cause.

“Ellis will speak with me and I’ll speak with Ellis, I’ve got no doubt,” Moyes said.

“We’ll see what we can do. It’s difficult. It will even be difficult to attract the players. We need to say, ‘We need you’.”

Should he leave those discussions with positive news, Moyes may consider moving for a goalkeeper after Vito Mannone had an afternoon to forget against Burnley.

He failed to stop Andre Gray’s first goal, which was hit virtually straight at him, and was then rounded by the same player having rushed out to the edge of his box early in the second half.

With Jordan Pickford out for up to eight weeks, Mannone’s performance might have given Moyes food for thought.

“I just think there were chances for things to be saved and hopefully he would admit that as well,” he added.

“The second as well, he didn’t need to come and get involved. But there was more involved in the goals than just the goalkeeper.”