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While Sunderland have been consistently battling it out in the top six of the Championship since last season, a heavy 3-0 defeat to bitter rivals Newcastle United in the FA Cup on Saturday gave the side a dose of reality.
While the Black Cats have aspirations of one day reaching the Premier League once more, they now have a good sense of how wide the gap is in terms of quality between themselves and teams in the top flight.
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Furthermore, the weaknesses in Michael Beale‘s squad were clear to see for the world against their greatest enemies, notably Sunderland’s goalscoring woes. However, the January transfer window offers the club the opportunity to rectify these issues.
Sunderland transfer news – Kieffer Moore
It was reported by The Sun last week that Sunderland were one of several suitors in the Championship looking to sign Bournemouth centre-forward Kieffer Moore and that the Wearside club are aware of his current situation with the Cherries.
Star man Jack Clarke has been Sunderland’s top goalscorer this season with 12 goals in England’s second tier. However, the winger has been responsible for 33.3% of his side’s total goals in the league which seems rather unsustainable.
Sunderland’s Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman recently hinted that the club would look to sign a new number ‘9’ in this transfer window, claiming that he “want[s] to convert some of [Sunderland’s] dominance into more goals”. Moore could be the team’s perfect solution up top and currently holds a market value of merely £4m, according to the CIES Football Observatory.
Kieffer Moore’s stats this season
Given his lack of game-time this season, it’s not a surprise that Bournemouth and Moore are willing to part ways this season.
The Wales international played merely 236 minutes for the Premier League outfit in all competitions, which is spread across 11 appearances. This comes to just 21.5 minutes per match for the 31-year-old.
In these 11 games, Moore has scored only twice, one being the equaliser on Saturday in Bournemouth’s thrilling 3-2 comeback against Queens Park Rangers. Throughout his stay at the Vitality Stadium, the experienced frontman found the net ten times in total across 44 appearances.
However, his goalscoring record in the Championship is excellent, having bagged 47 goals and 14 assists in 155 matches which averages out at one goal contribution every 2.5 games.
Kieffer Moore’s Career Stats |
|||
---|---|---|---|
Club |
Appearances |
Goals |
Assists |
Cardiff City |
66 |
25 |
6 |
Yeovil Town |
58 |
9 |
1 |
Barnsley |
55 |
23 |
8 |
Bournemouth |
44 |
10 |
0 |
Wigan Athletic |
36 |
10 |
5 |
Forest Green Rovers |
34 |
7 |
3 |
Rotherham United |
25 |
13 |
3 |
Ipswich Town |
11 |
0 |
0 |
Viking |
11 |
0 |
0 |
Torquay |
4 |
5 |
0 |
Stats via Transfermarkt |
This is the kind of prolificacy that Sunderland need up top. In fact, the Black Cats haven’t had a natural goalscorer leading the line at the Stadium of Light since Ross Stewart, who was sold in the summer for £8m. In 80 appearances for Sunderland, the Scotland international scored 40 times, helping the side to promotion from League One.
Stewart was quite prolific in the air and scored 28 times with his head throughout his career. At 6 foot 5, Moore could replicate Stewart’s aerial prowess, having bagged 37 of his goals from headers, hence why journalist Josh Bunting once described him as a “powerful presence” up top.
Right now, Beale needs someone who can put the ball in the net, whichever way the goals come. Nazariy Rusyn has been his preferred option up top but the Ukrainian has scored just once this season. Furthermore, Rusyn has been averaging just 0.35 xG per 90 in the Championship whereas Moore, despite his limited game-time, has averaged 0.96 xG per 90 and scored one goal more.
Moore is a proven Championship goalscorer and could be the difference between Sunderland earning a playoff spot and failing to do so.
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