"We've been crying out" - Sunderland told to seal 30-year-old transfer deal ASAP | OneFootball

The Black Cats look to be verging on a deal for the experienced forward.

Highlights

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Sunderland appear to be closing in on the signing of French striker Alexandre Mendy.

The Caen forward was said to have flown into the UK a few days ago to undergo a medical ahead of the prospective move to the Stadium of Light, as per Roker Report.

Mendy, 30, is someone that head coach Regis Le Bris will know well from his time working in France. In Ligue 2 last season, he scored 22 times at a rate of 0.6 goals per game.

Sunderland fan excited by the prospect of Alexandre Mendy signing

Keith Irving, Football League World's Black Cats fan pundit, is happy with the reports suggesting that Mendy is edging closer to a move to Wearside, and has pointed out a few key areas of his game that could really help the team.

"Do not adjust your set, Sunderland fans, we've been linked with a striker. Mendy probably wasn't high on anyone's rumour list when the window opened, but if the rumours are true about his imminent arrival at the Stadium of Light, then there are a lot of positives to take from this," Keith told FLW.

"His age, for a start. We've been crying out for experience at Sunderland and, at 30-years-old, the French league journeyman would definitely bring some of that.

"The position, of course; an actual striker. Somebody that actually knows the position - that would be great. And, of course, the young strikers in the squad can benefit from that too, in terms of learning about positional play, when to make those runs, when to bend the run, how to do that.

"That's only something that a natural striker can do, and bring out the best of the likes of Hemir, Mayenda and the rest of the crew.

"He's been pretty useful for his current club. He's played 136 games and scored 61 goals, so that's put him around about a goal every other game, or just under that, and that's over the last four years as well, which also suggests that he's been pretty injury free over that time.

"The last season was in the French second flight, but you get the impression that our new gaffer will know all about him.

"I'm excited at the prospect of this one. I really do hope that Sunderland get this one over the line. A proven goalscorer with a bit of experience is what we've asked for for a long time now.

It's all a question of whether they can get the deal over the line now, obviously, and, of course, whether he can hit the ground running in a very demanding Championship."

This summer shows profound change in Sunderland's transfer market approach

If Mendy were to sign for Sunderland and become their fourth addition of the summer, then the average age of that new quartet would be 29.25. Last season's squad had an average age of 23.4-years-old - that is a clear shift.

While the Black Cats haven't moved completely away from their youth recruitment policy, it is much less of a necessity under the new Le Bris regime.

Tony Mowbray wanted to add players of this nature to the squad that lost to Luton Town in the play-off semi-final, according to the Northern Echo.

Then what happened was a summer where almost exclusively young players were brought in, Mowbray only got one of the players that he suggested (Bradley Dack) and they plummeted down the league, compared to the previous campaign.

That type of recruitment, of bringing in players with experience and nous, is finally happening, and it seems like the club are finally coming round to what the ex-boss was on about; it just took a new one to actually get it implemented.