Former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips has told Football Insider that the club must have another player lined up after the Black Cats pulled the plug on their move for Liverpool defender Tony Gallacher. 

It appeared for all the world like the left back would be making a move to the Stadium of Light until a report by the Daily Mail stated that Sunderland had pulled out of the potential agreement with the Reds at the last minute.

So far there has been no further information given on why the club decided to not go ahead with the move and as a result the Black Cats are still in the market for a new full back.

Now Phillips has claimed that the club must have something else up their sleeve as he stated the following:

"Pulling out of deals just before the season starts is a blow, Johnson will want to know his starting 11 at this point.

"They will have backup players and I expect they will be brought in before the season starts.

"It's a real bad look for Sunderland."

The Black Cats have already been relatively busy during the current window, with the likes of Alex Pritchard, Corry Evans, Jacob Carney and Callum Doyle all arriving from Huddersfield Town, Blackburn Rovers, Manchester United and Manchester City respectively.

Sunderland get their league campaign underway next weekend as they play host to Wigan Athletic.

The Verdict 

This is a very strange development by all accounts and it could well suggest that the Black Cats are in the market for an alternative target.

Gallacher would've been a clever addition and I think the club have made themselves look very silly by pulling out of the move at the very last minute.

Now the plan will be to bring in another left back that is capable of making the position their own, with Denver Hume's future still very much up in the air at present.

It will be intriguing to see what sort of player the club brings in over the next few weeks, with time slowly running out.