KRISTJAAN SPEAKMAN has outlined why Sunderland found it so difficult to sign a forward in the January window – and defended the club’s decision to continue with a loan deal for Jayden Danns despite his medical highlighting an injury issue.

Sunderland spent most of January trying to recruit a new attacker, but were forced to admit defeat on a number of different fronts prior to deadline day.

Moves for Ben Brereton Diaz and Tom Cannon broke down, while talks with Cameron Archer also failed to result in a successful conclusion.

Speakman insists there were a number of factors behind the problematic pursuit of a striker, with the form of Wilson Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda a key consideration. Prospective signings knew that Isidor was likely to remain Regis Le Bris’ first-choice option for the ‘number nine’ role, with Mayenda also highly-regarded, hence there was a reluctance to move to Wearside to play what could easily have turned out to be a supporting role.

“Players have to have the physical, technical and tactical qualities to fit into the way we play,” said Speakman. “Then for players that are available in January, what they are seeking first and foremost, most of the time, is game time.

“We have a nine who is performing really, really well (Isidor) and another nine in Eliezer who has played in some different positions and also has an incredible record with goal contributions this season.

“Finding someone comfortable coming into that setting isn't easy, because I can understand that they know they won't be the number one choice from day one. And I don't think there is any doubt that Wilson deserves to be the number one choice.”

Hence, Sunderland’s position on deadline-day, when they were still without a new forward. Danns’ availability only became apparent in the final few days of the window, with Liverpool boss Arne Slot adamant that the teenager would not be leaving before he had started last week’s Champions League dead rubber against PSV Eindhoven.

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Sunderland had been tracking Danns for a number of months, and successfully beat off competition from Hull City and Blackburn Rovers to seal a loan deal for the 19-year-old.

However, Danns’ medical revealed a back issue that was reported to Liverpool, and the youngster’s parent club decided they wanted to oversee his treatment and rehabilitation.

By that stage, it was too late for Sunderland to recruit an alternative striker, so Speakman decided to continue with the loan deal, with Danns due to join up with the Black Cats’ squad once Liverpool’s medical staff are satisfied his back situation is resolved. Sunderland will not be paying his wages until he is available to play for them.

“It’s difficult to say when we’ll be seeing him at this moment,” said Speakman. “Jayden was a player we really wanted to sign, and it was just really unfortunate that, at the very end, we uncovered something. He was fully training and playing, but now he's going to have to rest for a period of time.

“When it comes at a very late hour, it becomes very difficult for us to find an alternative. We had a really good discussion with Liverpool about the way forward, and he can hopefully come and join us at some stage. For us, it wasn't just about adding numbers to the group, it was about quality and personality. Jayden met both of those criteria.”

Should Sunderland have left it so late in the window to make their move?

“Unfortunately, there are a lot of decisions made in the last segment of the transfer window, and that doesn't leave you with a lot of room to manoeuvre when you discover some information that you didn't previously know,” said Speakman.

“Ultimately, the player has to come and contribute, and they've got to fit in. To find all of that is difficult when we have two really good centre-forwards.

“We felt that we'd added what was the ideal player in Jayden, so there’s obvious disappointment that he is going to be unavailable initially. But that's sometimes how it goes in a transfer window. That's why you have the tests, to pick up these things.”