A big Sunderland blow has emerged from their efforts to make additions to their squad on deadline day...

What's the talk?

North East journalist Matty Hewitt has relayed a claim from Peterborough's chairman explaining why the Black Cats missed out on a deal to sign a centre-back.

He Tweeted: "#SAFC had an approach for Mark Beevers turned down on deadline day. Darragh MacAnthony says Lee Johnson was keen on the defender but Sunderland were put off by his wages earlier in the window. A late U-turn by Posh saw him stay in the Championship."

Fuming

Kristjaan Speakman endured a howler over this deal as his decision seemingly meant that they missed out on the centre-back, which was certainly a big blow for Johnson.

His concern over the player's wages appeared to delay the deal, giving Peterborough the time to eventually opt for a U-turn on deadline day. They may not have had the chance to change their minds had Speakman been willing to sanction the move Johnson wanted at an earlier date, rather than leaving it until the last day of the window and ending up with no additional reinforcements at centre-back.

One player in that position who did arrive at the Stadium of Light in January, earlier in the window, was Danny Batth and his form has been far from convincing. The ex-Wolves enforcer has struggled badly in recent weeks, with a dreadful average WhoScored rating of 6.36 so far for the club.

Last season, Beevers averaged an excellent WhoScored rating of 7.07 across 45 League One appearances. This shows that he is capable of delivering consistently brilliant displays at this level, whereas Batth has been found out since arriving on Wearside.

The 32-year-old also helped the East Anglian side to secure promotion out of the third tier. This means that he has key experience in achieving the goal that Sunderland have set out for themselves this season and could have provided a big boost to the side, which is why it was a setback to miss out on him.

Johnson was not given the centre-back he wanted to add to his squad, whilst losing Tom Flanagan, and he was eventually sacked after Batth scored an own goal in a 6-0 defeat to Bolton. It is all hypothetical now, but the ex-Bristol City boss may have bought himself more time had Beevers come in and improved the side, which his statistics suggest that he would have done. This is certainly a decision that will rile the fanbase at the Stadium of Light.

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