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Paddy McNair and Donald Love might not be the big name signings that some Sunderland supporters wanted to see at this stage of the summer transfer window, but for me this represents good business for the football club.
Of course, the true barometer for just how successful a signing either player is can only really be decided when we've seen just how good these two lads are, but in my eyes this is the club being proactive in the transfer market and recognising - particularly in the case of McNair - that sometimes you have to take a risk on young British talent when they become available for a relatively low sum of money.
With the future of Lamine Kone up in the air it at least gives us some comfort that, in the event of him leaving, we have players there ready to play. And whilst that might appear uninspiring, it shows that at least we are trying to cover our bases whilst also planning ahead.
Speaking to SAFC.com about the pair, David Moyes said:
Paddy is a young, athletic player who is improving all the time. He has experience for Northern Ireland and we want to bring as many international players to the club as we can.
Donald comes highly recommended and is another young player who I hope can develop and improve here.
I want to add some young players to the squad as well as some senior players and both of them have got really good potential and the opportunity to improve. I want to bring in players who are here for the long-term as well as the short and hopefully these two are here for the long-term."
I suppose when you sign players from Manchester United you expect a certain level of professionalism from them coming from that calibre of club and having gone through a world class academy system. Moyes makes a good point about these being signings made for the long term - going forward, Sunderland need to stop being so short-sighted in the transfer market.
In an ideal world we'll hang on to Lamine, whilst also adding two very talented young defenders to our ranks.
Before a potential departure for Kone was even mooted it could be argued that Sunderland needed at least two central defenders and a right back. Whilst Papy Djilobodji signed late last week to give us more depth in the centre of defence, McNair can cover a number of positions whilst Love is more of an out-and-out right back.
We'd all love to see Sunderland splashing large sums of money on players but I think we're all pretty well versed in the fact that we just aren't going to spend big. If we see value in certain players - or in networks of scouting that Moyes trusts - then we have to place faith in the players and hope that they find success here.
Both players have completed a full pre-season with their old club and are available for selection ahead of this weekend's game against Manchester City. Will either start that game? I suppose it depends upon the fitness of the likes of Jan Kirchhoff and Billy Jones - and, on top of that, Moyes has to consider whether or not it's worth playing Lamine Kone with the dispute over his contract still fresh in the mind.
