'Nightmare' - National media claims Sunderland player is undergoing 'ordeal' on Wearside
The Sunderland winger has struggled for first team recognition in recent times
It has been a slow start to the season for Sunderland prospect Jewison Bennette. Once a regular fixture of the first team squad on Wearside, the winger has dropped out of contention at a senior level in recent times, and has featured just three times for the U21s since the beginning of the new campaign.
The commonly held view was that he might well have left the Stadium of Light on a loan basis over the summer, but a move never materialised, and now media coverage in his native Costa Rica are questioning whether he needs a fresh start to kick start his career.
A write-up on the 20-year-old from Fútbol Centroamérica claims that Bennette “lived a dream” when he signed for Sunderland from boyhood club CS Herediano in 2022, but that the dream has since turned into a “real nightmare”. It is stated that his tumble down the pecking order is not just a concern for the player himself, but also “really worrying” for Costa Rican football writ large, where he is considered to be the nation’s next great international prospect.
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Indeed, Fútbol Centroamérica go on to suggest that by staying with Sunderland, Bennette is “prolonging his ordeal”, and that he must convince Regis Le Bris of his worth or face a testing time between now and the expiration of his contract in 2026.
For his part, the Sunderland head coach has addressed Bennette’s situation in recent weeks, and seemingly hinted towards the possibility of a loan exit in January. Speaking earlier this month, Le Bris said: “It's difficult because we felt that he needed senior football, and of course with the U21s he is still playing youth football.
“But he can train with the senior team and have this kind of game, so it's only four months and then we can see after that. We can try to see how he plays at left back, it is still useful for his development and his experiences. I don't think it's his position but he can learn there in games like this.”