Sunderland may already have brought in four new faces this summer, but Tony Mowbray is clearly not ready to stop there in his quest to guide the Black Cats into the Premier League.
After coming so close to doing exactly that last season by taking Sunderland to the Championship play-off semi-finals, the early signs in the summer transfer window certainly point towards another attempt next time around.
Who is Sunderland trialist Armstrong Oko-Flex?
According to ExWHUemployee, Armstrong Oko-Flex is on trial with Sunderland after being told he is no longer wanted by West Ham United.
The 21-year-old was signed from Celtic in June 2021 and impressed for West Ham in Premier League 2, including a hat-trick on his debut against Arsenal, but he made just one senior appearance – in a Europa Conference League match against Viborg last August.
Oko-Flex was also restricted to just four appearances for Celtic, though he did have more of a chance during a spell on loan at Swansea City in the first half of last season when appearing 13 times before being recalled midway through the campaign.
In terms of his playing style, as pointed out by football writer Josh Bunting, he is a "very intelligent" player who is direct and can hold the ball up well.
Is Armstrong Oko-Flex good enough for Sunderland?
The Republic of Ireland U21 international may have featured fairly regularly for Swansea last term, but 12 of his 13 outings came as a substitute as Russell Martin used him as an impact option from the bench.
While predominantly a winger, Oko-Flex's numbers across last season suggest he is similar in style to Chelsea's Mason Mount.
For example, he had 1.52 shots per 90 minutes, as per FBref, compared to 1.80 for Mount, while they played 38.2 and 38.6 live passes per 90 respectively – passes that are not from set-pieces.
The comparisons do not stop there, either, as Oko-Flex recorded 1.82 tackles per 90 minutes last season, which is almost identical to Mount's 1.80, albeit in a division higher for the latter.
It should also be pointed out that Armstrong-Flex's figures are based over a far shorter sample period than Mount's in terms of minutes played, but the Arsenal youth product clearly has something about him.
It may well be down to Mowbray to unlock that potential, giving Sunderland yet another option in the final third to link up with – or provide cover for – the likes of Ross Stewart, Patrick Roberts, new signing Hemir and Jack Clarke, assuming the latter stays at the Stadium of Light.
With no transfer fee involved, and the youngster reportedly only on wages of £5.5k a week, it could be a low-cost risk that pays dividends for Sunderland as they attempt to unearth the EFL's next Mount.
