Sunderland AFC news: Agent drops update on Patrick Roberts' future and lifts lid on Kristjaan Speakman - exclusive

Sunderland have certainly felt the sting of an overactive football intermediary wishing to find their client a new home over the years, with certain departures leaving fans lamenting the role agents play in the modern game, and the alarming amounts of money some can receive after finding new clubs for their clients.

However, we rarely hear about the agents positively impacting football. In that sense, Adam Roberts is bucking the trend and smashing stereotypes. Adam only works with two clients and favours their needs instead of his own, wishing to keep his portfolio small so he can give 100 per cent to those on his books.

He represents his brother, Patrick Roberts, who joined Sunderland 12 months ago and proceeded to play a huge part in the club’s promotion last season.

The road for Patrick hasn’t always been smooth with the 25-year-old suffering his fair share of setbacks after bagging a big-money move to Manchester City in 2015 before several loans.

Adam, when asked by The Echo how he operates, said: “I know how some agents work but for myself, I try to provide the best and most honest perspective I can.

“Everyone views agents in football as bad people because they see stories of agents forcing players out of clubs. It is about protecting your client really and doing what is best for them.”

Prior to his initial loan move to Sunderland, Patrick had a pretty torrid time of it and came to Wearside following a disastrous loan at Troyes in France. Many wondered if he was to become lost to the system, one of those ‘whatever-happened-to-him?’ players. Sunderland, however, offered a lifeline.

But why would a technician who once cost £12million want to sink to League One when, to put it bluntly, he didn’t have to? He certainly had options elsewhere.

“Confidence is the main thing, along with playing games,” Adam explains. “There’s been instances in the past where he has been at a club and only been given one or two starts but you need a rhythm to get going.

“He was going through a bad period in France with Troyes. It wasn’t what we were told or what we were expecting. Which is something you get a lot in this game. People tell you things and they don’t happen.

“You have to keep promises and obviously that wasn’t the case. It was a learning curve. I thought he was good enough to be playing in Ligue 1.

“It just so happened that Sunderland came in. The manager knew about him and had tried to sign him a few years back at Bristol City. Lee Johnson had an idea of what he was like and how to get the best out of him.

“We had discussions but it was a big decision as he would be moving down to League One, a league he had never played in but I said to him, at the end of the day, sometimes you need to go down to come back up.

“There’s a lot of variables when you sign: the manager, the club, what the sporting director says. Kristjaan Speakman was great, he had a belief in Patrick. He spoke about him well. It was about having a manager who wanted him and to be fair to Lee, he definitely gave that impression.”

In true Sunderland fashion, though, Lee Johnson was sacked days after Patrick had signed on the dotted line, and it looked like the move could turn into another questionable experience to add to the list.

“It was a bit frustrating,” Adam remembers. “Lee got sacked! Which wasn’t great but he has been through it so many times before, he is just used to it. I just said to him keep doing your thing and then Alex Neil got the job.

“He had a rocky patch and wasn’t featuring as much as he hoped but then he played against Lincoln City and tore them to shreds. After that, Neil realised what he potentially had and the rest is history.”

It isn’t an exaggeration to say that Sunderland was once a laughing stock in English football, a club where careers went to die and easy paydays were handed out.

Under current majority owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and sporting director Speakman, Sunderland has been transformed into somewhere talent like Patrick can excel.

“I don’t know what has gone on in the past at Sunderland but from our experience with them, all promises have been kept,” Adam pondered. “Speaking to the club and to Kristjaan Speakman has been quality.

"He has said it straight and has been honest. We believe in the project they have and what he wants for Patrick. That played a huge role in him joining. At the moment it all seems like it is a massive buzz. They are playing good football in front of huge attendances. You can’t complain, really, can you?”

Patrick was technically a free agent after his loan deal at Sunderland and contract at Manchester City came to end last summer.

There was serious interest elsewhere but he re-signed with Sunderland, which was down in large parts to Alex Neil. In a flash, though, the Scot deserted Sunderland for Stoke City.

Tony Mowbray was catapulted in to steady the ship and cajole Sunderland’s young squad – and his relationship with Patrick has taken an interesting trajectory.

The head coach has often praised the player, labelling him as one of the best attackers in the league only to leave him out of his starting XI due to the form of Amad Diallo during the early days of his tenure as head coach.

The pair are now playing in tandem together, operating with the sort of skill and class which has rarely been seen at the Stadium of Light since the turn of the millennium. It is a flourishing partnership, one which prospered against Premier League team Fulham in the FA Cup.

“Patrick’s relationship with Mowbray is really good,” admits Adam. “He is such an honest guy and tells Patrick to go out and express himself which is perfect for a player with flair.

“Sometimes when he has been left out of the team was because Amad was doing so well, so you can’t complain but Mowbray’s found a way of getting them both in the team now and look at the football they are playing.”

Asked about his brother’s long-term future at Sunderland given his recent good form and if he could move in January having played so well recently, Adam bluntly responded: “No. He is playing and that is all that matters.

“I think you just have to take it game-by-game but looking back on his career, I’ve not seen him involved with a better team that plays as good as football. Some of the football I have seen Sunderland play this season has been ridiculous.

“There’s a few goals that should have been up for the Puskas award. For Patrick, he is back playing consistently and he is really enjoying it. We’ll just take it as it comes and see where the club goes. Personally, I think they can push for the play-offs.

“Right now, he is enjoying it. He’s happy,” Adam concludes.