Dogs bark, cats meow, and Sunderland arrive at transfer deadline day desperate to sign a striker.

January, August, it’s always the same.

Even Christmas only comes around once a year!

No matter that the Black Cats have known all summer that they needed to strengthen their attacking options, it was a knocking bet that deadline day would turn into another will they, won’t they, striker drama.

I know, I know: sitting atop the Championship table after starting the season with three wins on the bounce - the latest a magnificent and fully-deserved victory against promotion favourites Burnley - it seems almost churlish to quibble over such mundane details.

But if Regis Le Bris’ side is to maintain that brilliant start, Sunderland must equip themselves for the long season ahead.

Today is likely to see at least one midfielder arrive on Wearside with Le Bris indicating that talks are ongoing with Ghanaian Salis Abdul Samed and Serbian Milan Aleksic.

It is the pursuit of a striker that fans will be following most closely, however.

Because, so far, Sunderland summer incomings have been solid rather than transformative.

A new backup goalkeeper in Simon Moore, a new midfielder in Alan Browne, a new winger in Ian Poveda, and French frontman Wilson Isidor on a season-long loan.

Moore is a more than capable understudy for Anthony Patterson, the experienced Browne looks a smart addition, and Poveda is a talent although he is yet to kick a ball in anger for his new club.

Isidor, meanwhile, has joined from Zenit St Petersburg and is an unknown quantity at Championship level.

Hopefully, he will be an instant hit.

But last summer’s crop of strikers demonstrated the risks inherent in signing unknown quantities.

Luis Hemir struggled and continues to struggle, Eliezer Mayenda took 12 months to settle in and has only this season begun to look the part, the jury is still out on Nazariy Rusyn, while the less said the better about Mason Burstow’s loan spell from Chelsea.

Sunderland made recruitment mistakes last season and they played a major role in the club’s disastrous second half of the campaign and eventual 16th place finish.

The question is, what lessons have they learned?

Essentially, it boils down to whether they are prepared to pay for strikers with a Championship pedigree.

In January, they tried to land Kieffer Moore on loan from Bournemouth but found their finances would not stretch that far and lost out to eventual promotion-winners Ipswich Town.

This week brought news of a bid for Leicester City’s Tom Cannon but, once again, cost seems to be an issue.

Having just banked £15m for the sale of star winger Jack Clarke - and with the potential of another windfall should Pierre Ekwah depart today - Sunderland have cash on the hip, but how much of that do they want to spend?

Are they willing to pay the necessary premium for a proven Championship striker or are they content to continue scouring the Continent for rough diamonds?

If the latter, the potential pay-offs can be huge but the failure rate is high.

If the former, they will have to dig deep.

Sunderland’s season has begun with so much promise and by 11pm tonight we will have a better idea of whether they will be able to sustain their early momentum