Sunderland man may regret summer transfer miss after Aaron Connolly claim: View | OneFootball

The arrival of the former Hull City man could have a knock-on effect at the Stadium of Light

It was certainly a busy period at The Stadium of Light for Sunderland over the course of the summer.

In June, it was announced that Regis Le Bris was to become the club's new manager, finally giving the Black Cats a permanent replacement for Michael Beale, after his sacking earlier in the year.

Meanwhile, it was also a busy time for changes to the first-team squad, with ten senior players departing the Stadium of Light.

By contrast, another nine new players were signed by the club, adding some exciting options to the squad in the process.

Now it seems that while the transfer window has been closed for three weeks, Sunderland might not be done in terms of their recruitment just yet.

Black Cats close in on Aaron Connolly signing

According to reports that emerged on Monday morning, the club are closing in on the signing of Aaron Connolly.

The striker is currently a free agent, having been released by Championship rivals Hull City last summer.

Due to the fact that he is a free agent, the Republic of Ireland international can, of course, still be signed despite the fact the transfer market is no longer open.

Connolly has endured some challenges in recent times, but has previously flashes of the quality he possesses, not least when he first emerged on the scene in the Premier League with Brighton.

This may, therefore, be a rather exciting signing for a Sunderland side who have made a strong start to the campaign, winning five of their six league games to sit second in the Championship table.

However, there is also an argument that the addition of Connolly, may not be seen quite as positively by another player who is already part of the Black Cats' squad.

Nazariy Rusyn has struggled at Sunderland so far

Last summer, one of the strikers who was brought to The Stadium of Light was Nazariy Rusyn, with the Ukrainian joining from Zorya Luhansk in his home country.

However, the striker found it difficult to make an impact during his debut campaign for the club, scoring just twice in 21 Championship appearances.

This season, Rusyn has continued to find opportunities hard to come by, and is yet to start a game in the league, making just four substitute appearances in the Championship.

Indeed, despite an injury to Ahmed Abdullahi, the Ukrainian has not even come off the bench in the last two league matches, with Wilson Isidor seemingly being favoured for that role.

As a result, the signing of Connolly seemingly does not bode well for Rusyn's prospects over the course of the next few months.

The fact that they are bringing in the Irishman at a time when Rusyn is not playing, does seem to indicate that Le Bris feels his side need more in attack amid the absence of Abdullahi.

Consequently, it is likely this latest signing will push the 25-year-old even further down the pecking order at The Stadium of Light, making it even harder for him to get any game time.

That may leave Rusyn wondering what might have been, with it having been reported back in the summer that Sunderland were considering sending him out on loan for this season.

Ultimately, no such deal would materialise, and as a result, the striker still finds himself struggling to get a chance with the Black Cats, and with more competition seemingly on the way.

By contrast, had he got his temporary move back in the summer, there is a chance he would have been able to play more regularly, and potentially find some rhythm for a return to the Black Cats.

Indeed, at 25-years-old, Rusyn is at a stage of his career where he will feel he should be playing as much in what ought to be the peak years of his career.

Right now, it looks as though it will be hard for him to do that at the Stadium of Light, and so the fact he did not get a loan move away from Sunderland in the summer now looks like even more of a missed opportunity.