Sunderland will be disappointed that they did not sign this dynamic striker.
Sunderland’s biggest disappointment from the summer season will be their inability to sign a new striker, as there is no guarantee at the Stadium of Light that their current crop of attackers will be reliable in front of goal when it counts.
Mason Burstow was chosen as Michael Beale’s lone striker against Middlesbrough in the previous game, and the Chelsea loanee was mostly invisible against Michael Carrick’s side before Nazariy Rusyn stole the show off the bench with a stunning goal.
Regardless of Rusyn’s performance at the Riverside Stadium, Sunderland may rue this failed window signing if the player in question leads a different Championship side to promotion.
Sunderland’s interest in Kieffer Moore
Kieffer Moore was wanted by a number of second-tier clubs during the transfer window, and he eventually moved to previous employers Ipswich Town on loan from AFC Bournemouth, much to the chagrin of Beale’s players.
Sunderland’s interest in the prolific £15k per week Welshman was widely documented up to Deadline Day, with the Tractor Boys ultimately able to offer the towering 6 foot 5 striker a more appealing deal than the Black Cats.
Beale and Co will hope that their inability to sign Moore until the end of the season does not come back to haunt them, as the Championship promotion contenders must rely on erratic attackers such as Burstow and Rusyn to deliver away from the polished second-tier goal machine.
Moore’s numbers in the Championship
Moore may have been the finest possible solution to Sunderland’s striker troubles, as the new Ipswich loanee demonstrated his deadly propensity for finding the back of the goal on his debut for Kieran McKenna’s Tractor Boys just last weekend.
The 31-year-old only needed one half of football away at Preston North End to make the Black Cats repent their transfer market shortcomings, scoring twice late on in a commanding performance from the experienced centre-forward.
This magnificent brace couldn’t help Ipswich pull off an incredible comeback in the eventual 3-2 loss, but it did bring Moore’s tally at the level to an astounding 49 goals.
Moore’s impressive performance for Cardiff City, in which he scored 20 goals in the Championship during the 2020-21 season, prompted a famously difficult-to-please Mick McCarthy to laud the striker as “terrific” when in command of the Bluebirds.
Sunderland would have liked to have had such a commanding presence up front against Middlesbrough, but Burstow provided little in actuality.
Burstow only had 18 touches of the ball before Beale replaced the ex-Charlton teenager with Rusyn, and he appeared scared to leave his imprint on proceedings, failing to register a single effort on goal during a dismal 67-minute tenure on the Riverside pitch.
This has been indicative of Burstow’s overall subpar season in Black Cats colours since moving from Stamford Bridge, with only one goal in 19 appearances. Moore has already outscored that total in one game.
Beale will simply have to keep selecting players like Burstow and Rusyn in the hopes of eventually finding a clinical striker, with the Wearside club’s inability to get Moore through the Stadium of Light door potentially haunting them if Moore proves to be crucial to Ipswich’s promotion to the Premier League.
