Sunderland's intriguing £9m January transfer window predicted - including Spurs and Chelsea deals

Sunderland have managed to largely shake off their nightmare November, which saw them go six matches without a win and lose precious ground in the race for promotion back to the Premier League. The side who gained global attention through the seminal Netflix series Sunderland 'Til I Die haven't been in the English top tier since 2017, and they're set for another relentless race with the likes of Sheffield United and Leeds to make it back up this season.

As we sit here dazed, in the eerie in-between period following Christmas before the new year - a confusing time where a fistful of tinned chocolates and a thick slab of leftover turkey is deemed an acceptable breakfast choice - thought has turned to what business that Black Cats might conduct in the upcoming transfer window.

Ahead of Fabrizio Romano scaling Mount Etna to ring the ceremonial 'Here We Go' bell on January 1st, we fired up Football Manager and had the punishingly addictive game predict the Black Cats' signings this January.

Ivan Ayllon - Real Union - £300k

Upon reading the first name on the list, I emitted an impressed 'Ohhh' strikingly similar to that of Alan Partridge, when witnessing his former teacher Frank Raphael requesting a packet of Minstrels in his local petrol station. The Sunderland scouting team plucked this name seemingly from nowhere, and he opted to leave his Spanish third tier side after just half a season.

Daniel Maldini - Monza - Loan

Oh my giddy aunt, this is quite something. Paolo Maldini's son - tragically a winger and not a centre-half - waved goodbye to Serie B, arriving at the Stadium of Light early on in the window. His loan deal gave the Black Cats an option to buy, which you'd hope they decided to take up, even if just for that surname. Perhaps he could fill the void left by Jack Clarke’s exit, too.

Jairo Riedwald - Royal Antwerp - £2m

Another savvy bit of business for Sunderland, here. Things didn't work out for the ex-Crystal Palace midfielder at Royal Antwerp, and he was allowed to return to England just six months into his return to the Netherlands. He struggled to get a look-in at Palace during his seven-year spell in south London, but has the attributes to thrive in the second tier.

Catalin Cirjan - Dinamo Bucuresti - £2.4m

My word, Sunderland's scouting team really are making the most of their Wyscout account. The former Arsenal midfielder, who has been capped at youth level for Romania, clearly did enough to impress the decision makers at Sunderland. He was tipped as a bit of a wonderkid in his younger years - he's still only 22 - but never broke through into the Gunners' first team.

Ryan Flamingo - PSV - £1.9m

Blessed with a name that conjures up images of an aged pub singer touring the seaside towns of the UK armed with a snazzy sequinned jacket and a karaoke machine, Flamingo is surely destined to become a real cult hero at the Stadium of Light. He's a solid centre-back with bags of potential, and is a regular in the Netherlands' U21 squad.

David Datro Fofana - Chelsea - Loan

Sunderland went into deadline day still on the hunt for new signings, and managed to persuade the Blues - a club who quite bizarrely have a stadium with a smaller capacity than Sunderland - to tear up Fofana's. Here's hoping he does a little better than Mason Burstow, who scored just once in 20 appearances when on loan from Chelsea last season.

Dante Cassanova - Spurs - £2.4m

Are Sunderland now exclusively only signing players with fantastic names? Late on deadline day, the Black Cats took one final punt, bringing the Spurs youth centre-back star in just before Romano entombed himself in crystallised carbonite until the summer.

So, there we have it. Football Manager has spoken. We're not holding out any hope for Flamingo, Maldini, Dante and co to rock up at the Stadium of Light any time soon, which really is a shame. Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Juan Sartori, get the chequebook out and make it happen.