Jack Ross admits the sale of George Honeyman took him by surprise, and there are no new signings on the horizon with the captain set to move to the Championship.
The 24-year-old had a medical at Hull City ahead of a move thought to be worth around £400,000.
Ross was a big supporter of Honeyman’s appointing him as captain last summer and standing by him in the face of criticism from the terraces.
“It was a surprise because it wasn’t something we were anticipating happening,” said the Scot.
“In football sometimes you have to make quite big decisions in a relatively quick period of time, so for George it was a busy day for him on Wednesday to process (what was happening).
“It wasn’t something we believed was imminent or on the horizon.
“It does effect what you expected to start the season with but you’re going to get these bumps along the way.
With the Black Cats overstocked with central midfielders, they will not look to replace Honeyman directly, but will be in the market for a left-sided player to provide cover for Denver Hume.
Nothing is expected before Saturday’s opening League One match against Oxford United and the next match, at Ipswich Town, comes after the Premier League and Championship transfer windows have shut on August 8, potentially broadening the options.
It is clear, though, after the departures of Lee Cattermole, Donald Love, Bryan Oviedo and Adam Matthews, Sunderland are trying to manage their wage bill carefully this summer, as they will have to in order to comply with League One’s financial fair play rules.
“I was very open through the pre-season period and I suppose maybe I way taken quite literally when I said, ‘One in, one out’ but we were around that in terms of balancing the squad out in terms of numbers and a budget perspective.
“Although we brought Marc (McNulty) and George (Dobson) in, Bryan (Oviedo) has left since and now George (Honeyman).
“I want to make sure we continue with that.”
Ross was not rushing to make a decision on who his next captain will be. He has plenty of people with experience of wearing the armband at different clubs, but former Middlesbrough skipper Grant Leadbitter has led the side on the pitch since Honeyman’s pre-season ended at half-time at South Shields.
“Partly because I have only just found out and also because he’s only having his medical now (as he spoke on Thursday afternoon) I would be reluctant to get too far ahead of myself because you know what football can be like.
“Once that’s confirmed we will look at it properly.”
Ross also revealed that Aiden McGeady is still not pain-free after breaking his foot in April, but having played and scored in Monday’s behind-closed-doors friendly against Hartlepool United, it would be no great surprise if he lined up against Oxford.
“He’s made really good progress,” Ross commented. “Would I say he’s completely pain-free? No.
“He’s probably missed about 60 per cent of the pre-season. We’ve not got him absolutely right but because he’s been so good in training and the bounce game (against Hartlepool), he’ll come in and around the squad.”
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