With the new EFL season kicking off this weekend, Alex Neil will be hoping his Sunderland side is in good enough shape to get off to a strong start as they take on Coventry City.
With the Black Cats returning to the second tier after a four year absence, their main aim will be to stay in the league and get a good finish.
However, there will be a progressive plan in place which they hope will support their aims of pushing back up towards the Premier League in the coming seasons.
Neil has made a number of new signings this summer all of which are under the age of 24 and this is something that reflects the club's transfer strategy going forward as the boss told the Northern Echo: "What I think we all need to be clear on is the strategy and the structure of the club.
"The strategy of this club is to buy young developing players, improve them to create value within the team and within the club. They will be supplemented by senior players that are in there like a Danny Batth, Bailey Wright, Corry Evans, Alex Pritchard.
"The majority of all our transfer fees, in fact pretty much all of them, will be spent on younger players. They won't be spent on guys that are older. It really is as straight forward as that so I think that's been quite widely known. If it's not then that is what we are trying to do."
The Verdict:
This is positive news for Sunderland fans as it seems as though they have a solid plan in place for their recruitment which will go past this season and therefore should set them up for seasons to come.
Of course the Black Cats would want to be competing at the top of the table and securing promotion as soon as possible but the Championship will be a competitive league next year and they are right to be looking at it as a project to build.
Not only have Sunderland recruited young talent this summer, but they have also looked at players who have some experience under their belt already. By adding this to the more senior players they have in the side is only going to help create a well balanced squad that they want.