Sunderland boss Dick Advocaat has signed Swedish midfielder Ola Toivonen on a season-long loan from French side Rennes.

The Black Cats have collected just one point from nine on offer so far in the Premier League, conceding eight goals in three games.

Advocaat has been agitating for reinforcements, insisting he cannot “do the job without the tools” having agreed in the summer to remain in charge at the Stadium of Light after he helped Sunderland avoid relegation last season.

Advocaat has already spent more than £20m this summer when landing five new signings plus loanee Yann M’Vila from Rubin Kazan.

Toivonen is already well known to the Dutchman as the pair worked together at PSV Eindhoven during the Swede’s five-year spell in the Eredivisie.

The 29-year-old, capped 43 times by his country, is delighted to finally have the chance to sample the Premier League.

“I’ve played in the Swedish, the Dutch and the French league but I’ve saved the best, so I’m very happy and very excited to play in the Premier League,” he told Sunderland’s website.

“I play easy football and like to combine with the midfielders, strikers and wingers, but when the crosses come in I always want to be in the box to help the strikers and score goals.”

Toivonen made 46 appearances in Ligue 1 for Rennes, scoring 14 goals after joining in January 2014, and has also notched nine international goals for Sweden.