Sunderland AFC could make millions from 5-man sale but they shouldn’t yet
Sunderland have made an excellent start to the 2024/25 campaign.
A 2-0 away win at Cardiff City on the opening day of the season was followed up by impressive home victories against Sheffield Wednesday and Burnley.
The Owls are managed by the talented Danny Rohl and could have given the Black Cats a very tough game at the Stadium of Light, but the hosts were ruthless and came away with a magnificent 4-0 win.
Some would argue that their game against the Clarets came at the right time, with the Lancashire side seeing quite a lot of players leave Turf Moor around that time, but they still had a high-quality team on the pitch and the fact the Black Cats secured three points was impressive.
They could have easily slipped up away at Portsmouth, which was their final game before the international break, but they were able to secure a decent victory there and only a freak own goal from Luke O’Nien prevented them from keeping a clean sheet at Fratton Park.
Regis Le Bris’ side have done extremely well overall – and it will be fascinating to see whether they can remain consistent.
One thing can be said with confidence though – and that’s the fact they look set to have a bright future – with the likes of Jobe Bellingham, Trai Hume, Dan Neil, Anthony Patterson and Chris Rigg currently at their disposal.
Sunderland need to retain stability after Jack Clarke’s departure
Losing Jack Clarke looked set to be a major blow for the Wearside club, who richly benefitted from his contributions after seeing him sign permanently for the club back in the summer of 2022.
It always looked possible that he was going to move on during the previous summer transfer window though – and he ended up making the move to Ipswich Town.
Some attacking players have come in to try and fill the void that Clarke has created with his departure, but stability is much-needed after the winger’s move to Ipswich and Pierre Ekwah’s switch to Saint-Etienne, because both were key players who made a real difference.
Retaining their current key players for at least another season or two could provide that stability – and many of those players listed before the start of this section have established themselves as key first-teamers.
Of those five, Bellingham, Hume, Neil and Patterson are all four of the first names on the teamsheet, with Bellingham making a very good impact during his first season at the SoL last term.
Rigg, meanwhile, has been involved in all four league games this term, starting in three of those matches.
He could become a vital part of Le Bris’ side’s spine, along with Patterson, Neil and Bellingham.
