Sunderland patience pays off with capture of Bristol City ace Antoine Semenyo

Parkinson had made the 20-year-old one of his top attacking targets for the window, agreeing the broad strokes of a deal in the early stages of the month.

The deal was held up as Bristol City searched for a striking addition of their own, finally landing Burnley’s Nahki Wells on Thursday.

That cleared the way for Semenyo to join the Black Cats on loan until the end of the season, and he goes straight into the squad for the clash with Portsmouth.

The Black Cats boss says he will bring some crucial qualities to the squad.

“I’m pleased we have been able to bring Antoine to the club,” Parkinson said.

“He’s got pace and power which are qualities we highlighted and wanted to add to the squad.

“We look forward to working with him and he goes straight into the squad for tomorrow’s game at Portsmouth.”

Semenyo admitted that it has been a ‘long wait’ but said he can’t wait to get started on Wearside.

“It’s been a long wait to get the deal done, but it’s finally signed and I’ve joined a great club. It’s got so much history and I’ve heard so many great things about it from lots of people, so I’m proud to be a part of that.

“I’m looking forward to working with the manager because I want to improve every day. I can’t wait to get started.”

As it stands, the Black Cats are not expecting to do any further business before the window shuts, with Marc McNulty cutting short his loan deal and heading for a second spell at Hibernian.

It means that Parkinson has added five players to his squad this month.

Bailey Wright, Kyle Lafferty, Josh Scowen and Semenyo have all arrived, with McNulty, Laurens De Bock, Dylan McGeouch and Aiden McGeady departing.

Parkinson ultimately opted against sanctioning a loan move for Ethan Robson, who will now compete for a place in the matchday squads.