Sunderland coach explains what happened with former trialists - including ex-Chelsea winger now at Leicester

Academy coach John Hewitson says Sunderland came to a mutual agreement not to sign players who were on trial at the club this summer.

Former Chelsea winger Silko Thomas, 19, and 18-year-old defender Bobby Bjork, a Blackpool academy graduate, both played for the Black Cats’ under-21s side in a friendly against Huddersfield in August after leaving the aforementioned clubs.

Swedish midfielder Gideon Granstrom, 18, also had trials at Sunderland and Norwich over the summer.

When asked about recent trialists and what happened to them, Hewitson told the Echo: “The club chose not to pursue and also the boys chose to go elsewhere.

“It’s just one of them things, that was something that we looked at, we had different lines of going into that avenue but it just didn’t come off.

“We move on and have a look at other people really and it’s just one of them things.”

Thomas has been playing for Leicester’s under-21s side since his trial at Sunderland.