Niall Quinn Looking For Shrewd Sunderland Signings

Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn has stated that the club are playing it cool this summer having made no signings so far in the transfer market.

The Black Cats have been heavily linked with Tottenham Hotspur's Darren Bent, and have allegedly put in a €14 million bid for Bordeaux's highly-rated attacker Marouane Chamakh.

The club have just been taken over by American billionaire Ellis Short, and it was thought that the north-east side would be making big money bids in order to improve the squad.

However, new manager Steve Bruce is yet to make his first signing, with rumours spreading that there were only limited funds available for him to spend in the summer.

However, Quinn has explained that the club are simply taking it easy and weighing up each transfer target carefully.

Speaking to The Daily Express, Quinn said, "We haven't give up on any of our targets, but nor have we thrown our cards on the table to show our hand either."

Michael Chopra and Greg Halford have already left the club, and now Quinn has stated that Bruce is looking at his team closely before finalising his transfer wish list.

"Steve has [identified] a few players that we would love to have, but he's very insistent on having a good look at what we have - and he's probably right.

"We have maybe got some players who weren't able to do well under a previous manager who might come alive, and suddenly you have got an asset you didn't realise you had.

"Rather than just trading for the sake of it, let's try to be intelligent and smart. We know what we need and where we need it.

"There are areas where we have to do something, but there will be an opportunity for others too."

The Black Cats' chief has previously said that the club are looking to tie up their transfers before the pre-season preparation begins, giving Bruce little time to bring in new recruits.

Nick Turner, Goal.com