Sunderland pulled off one of the shock results of the season so far, thrashing Southampton 5-0 at the Stadium of Light last weekend.
The Black Cats managed to put five past one of the promotion favourites to the bewilderment of many having only netted four times in the fixtures prior.
Despite finding their goal-scoring touch here, supporters were left disappointed late on in the window as star striker Ross Stewart coincidentally joined the Saints, leaving them light on quality options in the forward line.
The Scotsman supplied ten goals in 13 starts last season and if it wasn’t for a lengthy spell on the sidelines, could have fired Tony Mowbray’s side to automatic promotion.
With Stewart out the door for a reported fee of £8m, a proven Championship striker was needed to fill his void but in this climate, those are hard to find and Sunderland were made to settle for a deadline capture of striker Mason Burstow on a season-long loan from Chelsea.
Who is Mason Burstow?
Burstow is a promising 20-year-old striker who was named on the bench in Chelsea’s season opener against Liverpool.
More recently, he has was brought off the bench in their 3-1 defeat against West Ham, and again in their victory over Luton Town.
Burstow made his full debut for the Blues in their Carabao Cup clash against Wimbledon last Wednesday night and joins the club with hopes of setting the Championship alight, to the belief of Sunderland Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman.
He said: “Mason is one of the brightest young centre forwards on the cusp of the Premier League environment and he is a player that we have monitored for some time.
“Mason is a mobile number nine with experience in the EFL and he has had a really positive impact on Chelsea’s first-team squad this summer, so we are excited to see the impact he can make in our team.”
While huge praise has been directed towards Burstow, he is yet to fully justify his hype at senior level having failed to score in his loan spell at Charlton Athletic last season which could make Sunderland regret not moving for Tom Cannon, who swatted away the Black Cats’ interest to join Leicester City on deadline day for £7.5m.
How good is Tom Cannon?
Sunderland were one of several Championship clubs eyeing up a move for Tom Cannon this summer but were beaten to his signature by Leicester’s war chest.
Cannon’s stock has quickly risen since January having impressed during a loan spell at Preston North End, netting eight times in 20 appearances.
Since the departure of Stewart, Sunderland have lost their complete forward, who is not only intelligent enough to drop deep and link play effectively but also possesses the pace to run in-behind, latch onto through balls and finish with aplomb.
The 20-year-old is of a similar mould to Stewart as demonstrated by his ability to bully defenders with his physical attributes and remain composed in front of goal, recording 1.24 successful take-ons, 1.13 shots on target and 0.43 non-penalty goals per 90, as per FBref.
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