Sunderland: Regis Le Bris makes striker signing prediction | OneFootball

The Black Cats managed to acquire the young forward late on the final day of the window.

Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris has said that it will take time for new striker Ahmed Abdullahi to bed in at the club, but believes that he will be a good addition to the squad.

After scrambling all day on August 30th to find a new number nine, Sunderland finally secured the services of Abdullahi late in the day.

The 20-year-old Nigerian centre-forward was one of a number of players linked with a move to the Stadium of Light on deadline day, including his compatriot Gift Orban.

This position was a priority for the Black Cats on deadline day. Adbullahi may not have been their first choice, given the reports linking Orban with Sunderland, but they needed someone of his ilk in the building and they got the KAA Gent youngster for a reported €3 million (~ £2.55 million).

As well as Abdullahi, the club also signed French forward Wilson Isidor on loan from Zenit St Petersburg.

Le Bris has so far worked well with the attacking options that were at his disposal when he first arrived. 19-year-old Eliezer Mayenda has emerged as his preferred number nine. He has recorded two goals and two assists in the first four games of the new Championship season.

It's handy for Sunderland that Mayenda has emerged as a first-team option, because the head coach isn't expecting their newest striker to be ready for that level of action in the near future.

Regis Le Bris' Ahmed Abdullahi prediction

The French coach has admitted that the 20-year-old will need to get used to things in the northeast. Abudllahi had only made one first team appearance for Gent before joining the Wearsiders, but Le Bris believes that the club provides the best environment for him to develop.

He said, via the Northern Echo: "He’s (Abdullahi) a big boy, quick and strong. He's a good finisher, he's young, 20 - so, like Eliezer, he will need time to develop for sure and to integrate all the elements we have in the team. But he's a good signing.

"We know there is always pressure but of course, we understand they need time to develop and to make mistakes so that they can learn. This will be the case with Ahmed for sure.

"You can see that when we give the opportunity to play to young players, they can improve and experience many different situations," continued Le Bris. "At the end, we can create another player who is available and can play at that level."

The first-team emergence of Sunderland's Spanish centre-forward wasn't expected to come so soon. He only featured in eight league matches last season, only one of which was from the start. But he is a product of the Black Cats' youth-first policy, which is something that has been of benefit to most of the current starting XI.

Sunderland's methodology is coming good this time

The way in which chairman Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman have run the club has received some criticism, especially last season when all the red flags that are associated with it suddenly became magnified in a really poor season.

It seems like Le Bris' entrance onto the scene has provided a bit of balance. They are no longer absolutely insistent on signing under-23s, as the acquisition of Alan Browne proved.

On the contrary to the previous campaign, this one, so far, is highlighting all the good things about the way that Sunderland is being run.