With just the money, can Sunderland survive?

Sunderland have announced plans to spend £100m on new players to build a solid foundation for relegation - and they've put their words into action. However, relegation is not just a matter of human calculation, and the final outcome is still uncertain.

At the end of last season, Sunderland beat Sheffield United 2-1 in the Championship play-off final to become the last team to feature in the Premier League. In theory, the "Black Cats" (Sunderland's nickname) are the weakest team of the teams preparing for the new season.

Use money to buy class

The Sunderland board are well aware of the situation and are keen to fill the void with money. Football Insider revealed on May 29 that the club’s board will provide a “large” budget for a “rich” squad overhaul in the summer transfer window.

The Black Cats have completed the permanent signings of Enzo Le Fee, Habib Diarra and Noah Sadiki, with the deals worth a combined $83 million . Financial expert Stefan Borson exclusively revealed to Football Insider that Sunderland are likely to spend a large portion of the TV money they receive after returning to the Premier League on the transfer market.

Borson stressed that Sunderland are likely to pay a £100m “signing-on fee” as they look to stay in England’s “rich” league next season. “They will think: if we don’t spend, say, £100m, we’re not going to stay, so we have to make a choice,” he said.

“Either you spend a £100m signing-on fee – a large chunk of it from TV money – to at least give yourself a chance of survival, or you keep things to a minimum, as Luton did, and simply accept that you only play one season, get relegated and keep the profits. Then next time you get promoted you invest more heavily – that’s the Luton or Norwich approach. I suspect Sunderland will go for the £100m and see where that takes them,” he continued.

Data according to BeinSport.

After Stefan Borson's analysis, the Black Cats spent an additional $28 million on Simon Adingra and $23 million on Chemsdine Talbi. From that reality, Sunderland is considered the top 7 spending club in England this summer with nearly $140 million spent on player purchases.

Only Liverpool ( $360 million ), Chelsea ( $284 million ), Arsenal ( $268 million ), Manchester United ( $179 million ), Manchester City ( $170 million ), Tottenham ( $164 million ), that is, the wealthy Big Six, spent more money on players than Sunderland. Even teams that played successfully last season and have a ticket to the European Cup next season, such as Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace, did not spend as much as them.

Cat worries are still cats

Of course, Sunderland did not spend a net of $140 million , as they also made more than half of their money from player sales. However, the estimated net spend of $85 million is still a lot for a club whose revenue in the most recent Premier League season was only about $50 million .

Furthermore, Sunderland's summer shopping season is not over yet and the club is promoting to buy Granit Xhaka from Bayer Leverkusen for nearly 20 million USD . With this progress, Sunderland spending 133 million USD in this transfer period is exactly as predicted by financial expert Stefan Borson.

In other words, Sunderland chose to bet on the big spenders to stay in the Premier League instead of taking the slow and steady route. However, this solution has many potential risks.

The arrival of stars will disrupt the playing structure that the Black Cats have become accustomed to. The revolution can succeed or fail, and no one knows in advance. One thing is certain, the broken salary structure will cause chaos in the dressing room and affect the club's financial sustainability.

Data aggregated from bookmakers.

For bookmakers, Sunderland’s reinforcements mean nothing. They still rank the 3 new recruits with the highest chance of relegation and Sunderland is the “brightest” of the 3 new recruits.

Source: https://znews.vn/chi-nhu-nha-giau-sunderland-co-song-sot-post1572510.html