Simon Grayson's summer recruitment has continued, as it was announced that Sunderland AFC have completed the permanent signing of Jason Steele from Blackburn Rovers and the season-long loan of Lewis Grabban from AFC Bournemouth.

Over the moon to be joining The Black Cats

It has been quite the summer of transition down at the Stadium of Light, having been relegated from the Premier League and outgoing manager of one season David Moyes been replaced by Grayson.

The former Preston North End manager is certainly gaining momentum in moulding the side in his own image, but more importantly filling in the gaps left by key players departing Wearside such as; Jermain Defoe, Fabio Borini, Jordan Pickford and Vito Mannone.

Credit to Gryason as he has bought clever for The Black Cats' return to the second-tier, Steele and Grabban are latest in a handful of new recruits joining the likes of Aiden McGeady, James Vaughan, Brendan Galloway and Tyias Browning already signing on for Grayson's revolution.

Steele signed a four-year deal while Grabban secured a season-long loan away from Vitality Stadium, both could make their debut in Saturday's friendly with Celtic and they shared their delight at signing for the Wearsiders.

"I'm happy to have everything sorted and I'm looking forward to the season," Grabban told safc.com. "The size of the club and its history attracted me, as well the manager."

"I'm absolutely over the moon," Steele added. "It's a dream come true to sign for such a massive club."

Try and take as many positives as possible

Grayson's new-look side seem to be gelling well thus far in pre-season, but as the opening clash with Derby County draws nearer the difficulty of opponent has began to increase and they face a tough test with their trip to Scunthorpe United on Wednesday.

McGeady made his debut for the visiting side but failed to make that crucial difference as the sides drew 0-0, Grayson stated that there was positives to take from the clash but stated that the side is far from the "finished article".

“You have to try and take as many positives out of the game as possible," he said post-match. "But we’re still a work in progress and we’re nowhere not anywhere near the finished article."

“We’re still working hard towards the level we want to get to," the manager stated. "But like I said it was pleasing to get a clean sheet and we’ve not been beaten."

“We have a quick turnaround following tonight’s game and we were a little short at the top end of the pitch," Grayson concluded. "So it’ll be about making sure we have players available again for Saturday."

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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.