No Championship team has been as proactive in the summer transfer window as Sunderland, who continued their spending spree by bringing in Jenson Seelt from PSV over the weekend in a reported £1.7m deal.
Dutch defender Seelt is the Black Cats' fourth signing of the close season, following in the steps of Luis 'Hemir' Semedo, Nectar Triantis and Jobe Bellingham.
Tony Mowbray's side do not appear to have finished their recruitment drive just yet, though, with plenty more names being linked with a switch to the Stadium of Light.
Joe Gelhardt is one of those on Mowbray's radar following a spell on loan on Wearside last season, with the experienced manager revealing in April he would be interested in landing the Leeds United youngster on a permanent deal.
What can Joe Gelhardt bring to Sunderland?
Having been restricted to just one Premier League start in the first half of the 2022-23 season, Gelhardt was given the chance to play more regularly on loan with Sunderland in the final four months of the campaign.
The 21-year-old scored three times and assisted three more in 20 league outings for the Black Cats, who narrowly missed out on promotion via the play-offs.
Gelhardt's return of 0.45 combined goals and assists per 90 minutes, as per FBref, was better than that of highly regarded Patrick Roberts (0.41) and only slightly lower than Jack Clarke – a target for numerous Premier League clubs – at 0.48, albeit the latter playing 27 games more in a show of his consistency.
Having only turned 21 last month, it is clear that Gelhardt is a player who has his best years ahead of him but is already showing immense talent.
"What a player this kid is going to be," talkSPORT host Adrian Durham said in October 2021. "He was astonishing for Leeds at the weekend. He should be involved in far more games. I think [Marcelo Bielsa's] been a bit reluctant to use him because of his age, but get him in there."
As Mowbray pointed out towards the end of last season, Leeds' relegation from the Premier League may work against his side, with the Whites perhaps looking toward the £15k-per-week youngster to spearhead their drive back to the top flight.
But Sunderland should at the very least test the waters to sign a player who averaged 2.48 shots per 90 minutes for them last season (only Ross Stewart with 3.71 can better that among players still at the club), as well as leading the way for fouls won per 90 (2.56), both highlighting his ability to get involved in play.
The England U20 international still has plenty of areas to improve on, such as finding the net from more of his attempts (his 0.09 goals per shot was bettered by nine Sunderland players last term), but he is the perfect type of player for Mowbray to continue to mould.
With four new signings already in the squad, each ready to challenge for a first-team spot, it may well be that Gelhardt is the final piece of this spending spree for Mowbray.