Sunderland are closing in on a major contract boost as well as their ninth summer signing

There's no doubt that recruiting a 19-year-old with limited senior experience is something of a gamble on Sunderland's part.

A clinical finisher can be the difference between survival and relegation, and so the burden on Marc Guiu this season will be significant. That Sunderland have moved to bring him into the club tells you something about the reputation he has built behind the scenes at both Barcelona and Chelsea, and the feeling is that he has a presence and eye for goal that can add something to Sunderland's attacking options. Guiu is largely untested at senior level but has shown throughout this career so far that he is a tireless runner, good in the air and dangerous in the penalty box.

That Sunderland have opted for a loan in this position, while spending heavily in other areas of the pitch on more experienced players, also tells us something about what they think about the other attackers in the building. Transfer insider Fabrizio Romano's announcement on Wednesday that Eliezer Mayenda is close to a new contract underlines it.

It has been an incredible twelve months from Mayenda, who has gone from struggling for minutes on loan at Hibernian to establishing his reputation as one of Europe's most exciting young strikers. While the sheer pace of his development may have surprised those behind the scenes at Sunderland a little, that he has performed so well has not. Even in the early months of his Sunderland career when he struggled after an unfortunate injury in his first training session, Mayenda impressed with his explosiveness in training but above all else his diligence and willingness to learn. His form through the second half of last season was seen by many insiders as a reward for his hard work over an 18 month period.

Many behind the scenes at Sunderland feel that Mayenda has a chance to be the youngster in this squad who eventually plays at the highest level, such is his ability but also his attitude. When Mayenda drove through the middle of the pitch to score what was surely Sunderland's goal of the season at Bristol City last season, Luke O'Nien remarked that he wasn't even all that surprised. By now, Mayenda was doing something like this just about every day in training.

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Sunderland believe Mayenda is only just getting started, and they are determined to give him opportunities in the Premier League. It's notable that while many of the players who featured regularly last season are already facing fierce competition for the place and have had limited involvement in the pre-season fixture so far, Mayenda has been key to Le Bris's plans. There hasn't been a goal yet and in truth there have been times where Sunderland have struggled to get him involved in the game as much as they would have liked, but Le Bris has seemed fairly unflustered about this when asked about it in recent weeks.

Ultimately, Sunderland understand that they have a 20-year-old striker now firmly on the radar of some of Europe's biggest clubs. If they are to keep him, they know they need to play him and this new contract is a reflection of the fact that they have made clear just how central he is to their plans in the next couple of years.

Marc Guiu will be coming to get regular minutes, and a reported penalty clause in the loan deal if he does not play enough is a reflection of that, but it's telling that Sunderland are going down this route. Through all their planning for the new Premier League season, a prominent role for Mayenda has been at the heart of it.

Don't forget Wilson Isidor, either. He has shown good movement, searing pace and finishing ability already in his Sunderland career, qualities that could translate well to Premier League level where Sunderland are clearly not going to dominate possession. A minor injury has disrupted his pre-season campaign so far and leaves his facing a bit of a race against time to feature prominently against West Ham United on opening day, but he clearly has a part to play over the course of the season.

Guiu's arrival gives Le Bris welcome variety in his forward line, a player who operates more centrally than Isidor and Mayenda and who can get through a huge amount of running to disrupt and tire the opposition defence. It may well be that on certain occasions, as he did last season, the Sunderland head coach operates with two strikers when the game situation requires it.

Sunderland have raised eyebrows with their aggressive approach in the transfer market this summer but that shouldn't mean that this new contract for Mayenda goes under the radar if and when it is announced - this is a big part of the puzzle for both this season and the ones beyond it.

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