Sunderland chairman Stewart Donald has spoken openly and honestly about potential investment coming into the club this summer.
The Black Cats are facing the reality of a second year in the third tier of English football after Charlton Athletic struck in the 95th minute of Sunday’s Play-Off Final to achieve promotion.
That’s left the Lads with deep wounds to lick as they now go away and rest before returning for pre-season in July ahead of the 2019-20 campaign.
Speaking to safc.com following the close of his first year in office as chairman, Donald shared his affection for the club before outlining plans for potential investment in the coming weeks.
“In the short term we have turned the club around from one that was losing a lot of money to one that will probably make a little bit of money next year,” he said.
“We haven’t had to spend anywhere near as much as we budgeted to achieve that. There’s money left in the pot so we’re in a really strong financial position.
“We’ve always talked about investment for the long term and over the summer now is the time to change the structure for the long term and exercise one of those options.
“Over the summer and next couple of weeks, I have got to decide whether or not I want to take one of these options.
“The football club has got under my skin, there’s no doubt about that and there’s nowhere I’d prefer to be than at Sunderland. Once you’ve watched football here and you’ve been in with the fans - you realise it's the place to be.
“It’s a great football club and I don’t think there’s a better one.”