Regis Le Bris will be raring to go ahead of this weekend's next set of Championship fixtures, hopeful that his Sunderland side can make it four wins in a row without tasting defeat when travelling down to Portsmouth.
Before that, however, the Black Cats have the frantic occasion of transfer deadline day to deal with, as many new targets now begin to be linked with the early second-tier pace-setters.
It has been well publicised this hectic transfer window the twists and turns that have come from Alexandre Mendy's uncertain future at SM Caen and Sunderland's reported admiration, but any last gasp deal for the Ligue 2 sharpshooter looks to be very much dead in the water now.
Instead, the promotion hopefuls have set their sights on other targets in the centre-forward spot, including this bright attacker from the Premier League.
Sunderland's search for a striker
As per a report by Sunderland Nation, Le Bris' men are now working on a potential loan swoop involving Chelsea youngster David Datro Fofana, in a bid to bolster their striker spots before the close of the window later on today.
It is reported that Chelsea are keen to offload Fofana to try and trim down their over-populated squad, with Sunderland keen on adding the Ivorian to their ranks as a result, after the 21-year-old showed signs of his potential out on loan with Burnley last campaign.
Displaying flashes of his brilliance for the Clarets, even as they stared relegation in the face, Fofana could be able to take to the demands of the Championship well.
He might well even be seen as an upgrade on Mendy, with the Caen man nine years older than his counterpart, on top of only ever playing in his native France and never in the hustle and bustle of the English game.
What Fofana could offer Sunderland
The 21-year-old would only make 15 appearances last season for Vincent Kompany's men in the Premier League, but he will largely be held in high esteem by those with connections to Turf Moor based on what he gave to the Clarets even in those fleeting moments.
Fofana would bag four strikes in total in league action, alongside picking up a further assist, as the ex-Burnley number 23 then returned back to Stamford Bridge somewhat proud of his efforts in Lancashire.
Club played for
Games played
Goals scored
Assists
Burnley
15
4
1
Chelsea
4
0
0
Union Berlin
17
2
1
Molde FK
65
24
10
Sourced by Transfermarkt
Chelsea didn't just splash the cash to acquire Fofana last year for a fee around £10m on a whim, however, with the 21-year-old a revelation at his former employers in Molde FK, with a mightily impressive 34 goal contributions managed from just 65 games in Norway.
Yet, the bumper move to West London just hasn't gone to plan for Fofana so far, with Le Bris perhaps the best manager to get more out of the £30k-per-week youngster now – as per Capology – having already managed to get two goals out of Eliezer Mayenda this fresh Championship campaign, after he fired blanks under previous Black Cats bosses.
Labelled as being an "outstanding" talent by now ex-Clarets manager Kompany after scoring this screamer versus West Ham United last campaign, this also feels like a purchase that suits the Sunderland ethos of developing young and hungry gems more so than forking out wads of cash to sign Mendy.
The 31-year-old does boast an unbelievable goal return of 101 goals from 291 professional appearances, but Sunderland are now going full steam ahead to find a striker away from their previous interest in the Caen man, as a move for Fofana potentially goes down to the wire.
Imagine him & Jobe: Sunderland in positive talks over Ekwah replacement
Sunderland could forget all about Pierre Ekwah with this late buy.
ByKelan Sarson
