Sunderland boss Dick Advocaat will be able to add more players to his Black Cats squad this summer but he has been told he needs to offload the ones who will not feature.

The Dutchman had a meeting with club chairman Ellis Short earlier in the week to discuss their future transfer business and whilst he was assured of funds to strengthen his side, he was also told he needs to trim the squad.

The Black Cats have already spent more than £15m on four new additions – Adam Mathews, Sebastian Coates, Younes Kaboul and Jeremain Lens – but the 67-year-old coach is looking for more additions to his squad in an effort to avoid a repeat of the relegation scraps of the last two seasons.

Advocaat said: “We just bought two players (Jeremain Lens and Younes Kaboul) and we still hope we can get one or two extra.
“But we all agree that the players we have bought have made the team and squad stronger.

“There is more competition in the squad and that is what we need. We are happy that they are here.”

Sunderland want to offload players to reduce their wage bill rather than to raise money to spend in the transfer market.

With four new additions already it could be a very different Black Cats side that lines up at Leicester on the opening day of the season.

Advocaat’s men are priced at 4.00 to pick up an away victory in the East Midlands.