Credit: Imago

Harri Burton

Sun 31 May 2026 12:00, UK

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Sunderland won’t know what has hit them in the Europa League, especially if they fail to do the right transfer business during the summer window.

That is according to former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider that the Black Cats simply must spend in order to compete in Europe next season.

Regis Le Bris has done an incredible job at the Stadium of Light, taking his side to a seventh-place finish in the Premier League, having only won promotion from the Championship during the 2024-25 campaign.

The main focus would have just been securing Premier League safety, spending £100million on transfers last summer, but the squad gelled almost immediately and rose further and further up the table.

Sunderland have no choice but to splash the cash this summer

There are now debates around how much Le Bris could have to spend after taking Sunderland all the way to the Europa League, and some will be expecting similar figures from last summer.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson, while unsure if another £100m could be spent by the Black Cats, expects a lot of business to be done ahead of trying to compete in the Europa League.

“I don’t know whether it’ll be £100m, but they will also need to spend because they’ll also need a bigger squad to deal with Thursday night football,” Borson said.

“They probably weren’t expecting it. Even up until quite late in the season, I bet they didn’t really think that’s what was going to happen. And now they found themselves in a very competitive competition that they’re going to want to do well in.

“They’ve got some good experience there, particularly in Xhaka. But how can they cope with that Thursday night without spending significant amounts of money on footballers?

“It doesn’t seem to me that there’s any other way, really. There are so many games in the Europa and they’re likely not to go out early. You’re likely to be playing well into, certainly February, probably March, minimum.

“You just need a bigger squad, and if you want a bigger squad, you’re going to have to spend the money. It’s a brilliant achievement for them, but it’s going to be quite a shock playing on Thursday nights.”

Is Regis Le Bris now safe at the Stadium of Light?

Rumours were floating around throughout the campaign that questions were being asked about Le Bris’ future, which was always a confusing situation for any outside supporters.

Football Insider understands, however, that Le Bris is safe as Sunderland boss, with the owners set to splash the cash during the summer once again, and it will be desperately needed.

While the squad is clearly full of talented players, given their finish in the Premier League table, the squad is not nearly big enough to compete in Europe as well as domestic competitions.

Should Le Bris be unable to add to the squad over the coming months, it will be impossible for him to get good results across the competitions, which will inevitably end in defeat, frustration, and a managerial change.