Jack Ross expects Bryan Oviedo’s departure from Sunderland to be sealed within a matter of days - but it seems the Black Cats’ summer signings may be at an end.
Belgian side Club Brugge are keen on signing Oviedo but Ross says the Costa Rican defender is likely to reach an agreement to terminate his contract on Wearside, after which he will be able to find a new club as a free agent.
Sunderland signed two players this week with striker Marc McNulty arriving on a season-long loan from Reading and midfielder George Dobson joining from Walsall, with that duo becoming the fourth and fifth new additions of the summer.
But Ross does not expect any more new faces before the season kicks off next weekend - and the only potential new recruit he is pondering before the window closes would be a replacement for Oviedo.
“I wouldn’t anticipate anything coming in [before the season begins],” said Ross following his side’s 1-0 friendly defeat against Dutch side Heerenveen at the Stadium of Light.
“Bryan’s situation should hopefully be confirmed over the next couple of days – I know there’s been a lot of speculation about that but hopefully it will done.”
Asked if Club Brugge would be Oviedo’s destination, he added: “From our point of view, that’s irrelevant really.
“It’s more a case of the club coming to an agreement with him and thereafter I don’t really know.
“I’ve tried to avoid commenting on it until it is all done, because you never know.”
And asked if there could be more additions before the window closes on September 2, Ross said: “I’m not sure. I think we’re in relatively good health at the moment.
“If Bryan does go then we will maybe be a little bit light on that side of the pitch so we may address that, but overall we are happy with what we have done so far.
“When we’ve got everybody fit and healthy we feel we have got a lot of options, so we are not in any desperate rush to [bring in more players].
“I’m pleased with what we’ve done recruitment-wise, we’ve been pretty patient and tried to get the right ones and I would hope that people who were at the game today saw that all those that were on the park today that we’ve brought in to the club have settled in well.
“They’ve strengthened us and improved us, which is what we wanted to do.”
