James Copley: Sunderland should play highly-rated youngster before 'transfer vultures' circle

There may never be a better time to blood Sunderland youngster Tommy Watson in the first-team.

The England youth international, who turns 18 this week, has caught the eye of many an observer this season with several superb performances for the club’s youth teams earning him comparisons to Jack Clarke.

Easington-born Watson has netted three times during his last three games for Graeme Murty’s under-21 side and is banging on the door for first-team inclusion with a trio of senior fixtures against Millwall, Watford and Sheffield Wednesday remaining before the campaign ends.

Watson’s senior debut came almost a year ago on his 17th birthday as Tony Mowbray’s team drew with Huddersfield Town away from home (April 18, 2023). Watson was deployed off the bench as a late substitute. His inclusion 363 days ago was partly earned and in part a ploy to keep him at the Academy of Light.

An impressive 2022-23 campaign, saw him register 16 goals and assists across the under-18 Premier League and Premier League 2. That form prompted strong interest from Scottish giants Rangers and Premier League club Nottingham Forest. At one stage, it looked like the youngster would depart.

In September, however, Sunderland announced Watson had signed a three-year professional contract - a deal representing faith from player to club and club to player. Watson remaining on Wearsde was a vote of confidence in the club’s pathway and plan and the length of the contract he signed was a marker of how good a player academy chiefs believe he can become.

Unfortunately, though, Watson suffered an injury during the summer and had to work his way back to fitness while watching his peer, 16-year-old starboy Chris Rigg, feature semi-regularly for the first team throughout the season. Watson would return to fitness midway through the campaign but then suffered another issue after Mike Dodds assumed interim control following the sacking of Michael Beale.

The contrast between Watson and Rigg is stark this season. The injury-free Rigg has made 18 appearances for Sunderland’s first team in the Championship this season. Watson, though, has only made the bench twice in league fixtures: away to Blackburn Rovers in September and at home to Stoke City last January. This is partly due to his injuries and partly other factors.

Chief among those factors has been the form of Clarke. The former Leeds United and Tottenham attacker has netted 15 times with four assists in the Championship this season. At such a young age, Watson was always unlikely to dislodge Clarke in Sunderland’s first-team with Clarke usually playing 90 minutes when fit regardless of the score.

Watson, though, has been training with Sunderland’s first team and has been afforded the chance to learn from Clarke and that is undoubtedly a step in the right direction in terms of his development. The two share an uncanny resemblance both physically and in their playing style. Indeed, Watson would have been a candidate for more senior football in the absence of Clarke and Patrick Roberts to injury back in March if it wasn’t for a hamstring issue. Watson is fit and firing now, but so too are Clarke and Roberts.

Sunderland’s interim head coach Mike Dodds has been asked about Watson and his lack of inclusion since returning to full fitness several times in press conferences and has largely provided the same understandable answers. Dodds has continually stated that he is not afraid to play young starlets, often referencing Rigg, but has been hesitant to experiment too much as he feels a responsibility to win games. That is fair enough. Fans pay their money and deserve to see a team with the best chance of bringing home three points. 

Dodds has also been reluctant to rush Watson into the first team and risk another injury setback. There are also the games Sunderland have recently played to factor in. Promotion-chasing Leeds United at Elland Road would have been a tricky game for Watson to make his senior return, and so too West Brom at The Hawthorns.

However, with Sunderland now mathematically safe from relegation after the 1-0 win over the Baggies last weekend and with Watson in such good form for the under-21s, there might never be a better time to blood him and hand him a well-deserved opportunity with Clarke thought likely to leave this summer amid transfer interest.

As Sunderland’s best player and most dangerous attacking threat, Clarke will feature heavily between now and the end of the season - and understandably so. However, when it comes to Sunderland’s bench there should be a spot for Watson. For instance, Bradley Dack was named amongst the subs against West Brom. The former Blackburn Rovers man signed a one-year deal last summer and will probably depart in June unless the club trigger an extension, which feels unlikely.

Mason Burstow was also included in Sunderland’s squad to face West Brom but surely against Millwall, Watford and Sheffield Wednesday that position would be better occupied by a promising youngster under contract with the club, rather than a loanee who is set to return to Chelsea this summer. The good news is that Dodds has repeatedly hinted that senior minutes for Watson are just around the corner as Sunderland’s season fizzles out.

With three nothing to play for games coming up for Sunderland, there is certainly a desire from Sunderland fans to see Watson handed a chance given his good youth form. Moreover, it may also be in the club's best interest to do so. Playing Watson now would be a deserved reward, one which would keep the player happy and settled at the Academy of Light before the transfer vultures begin to circle again. If not now for Watson, then when?