The Black Cats need to adjust to League One by cutting down their expensive squad.

This is the start of a new era for Sunderland as they have a new owner as well as a new manager after suffering the ignominy of consecutive relegations down to League One. The squad needs an overhaul, though, so Jack Ross is likely to make changes as he moulds it into his team.

There is also the financial disparity between League One and the Championship to consider, so Sunderland's revenue will have decreased significantly due to the limited money from TV rights.

Here are three players who the club need to move on...

Kone is a talented defender, but he only made 24 league appearances for the Black Cats last season and they can't afford to be keeping someone who is taking a significant chunk of the wage bill if they aren't a key player. The team needs to be financially stable in order to avoid other issues, so selling him on and recouping some of his transfer fee is the best move.

He is unlikely to want to stay regardless, because he was signed when the club were in the Premier League, so this is a major step down for him and he could get bigger wages elsewhere.

Rodwell only made two league appearances last season, but is another high earner in the team. Therefore, they need to sell him on because he is basically acting as financial dead weight for the club, and this summer is their last major chance before he leaves the club as a free agent in 2019.

He is similar to Kone in that he would be an excellent asset for this level, but isn't worth the financial risk because the squad needs to be as small and competitive as possible to cut down costs. His supposed unwillingness to play also means that he can't afford to have players such as him affecting morale in the squad as they start afresh under a new owner.

McManaman signed as a free agent last summer after his contract expired with West Brom, but he has done little to impress. He scored once as well as assisting two in 24 league games, which was a poor return considering he had moved down divisions.

Sunderland can't afford to take risks on players ahead of next season, so selling him such a priority because there are likely to be clubs that are interested. They already have Duncan Watmore and Aiden McGeady as options on the wing with Ross likely to bring in his own targets, so they have little need for McManaman.