Sunderland AFC transfer news RECAP: Massive injury blow as Wolves loanee Dion Sanderson faces spell on the sidelines

We’re signing off from our day blog but will be back very soon with our matchday blog ahead of Sunderland’s League One meeting with Blackpool.

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It certainly looks like the defender has played his last game this season.

Johnson says Sanderson will be out for six weeks, which would take us to June 8. The League One play-off final is on May 30.

Sanderson has a year left on his contract at Wolves while several clubs have been credited with interest in the player.

If Sunderland are to have any chance of re-signing Sanderson, they would surely have to win promotion from League One.

Lee Johnson has confirmed that Dion Sanderson is unlikely to play again this season as he faces six weeks on the sidelines.

The 21-year-old returned to Wolves last week to undergo scans on a back problem that has kept him out of Sunderland’s recent fixtures.

Johnson said: “Dion will be out for six weeks.

“He’s a good personality and a great kid first and foremost, but the bit that most impressed me was how he stepped up in the leadership and communications skills areas, which shows he has a bright future.

“It’s a big blow, but I don’t think about those types of things in that way.”

Sunderland face a battle to keep hold of top scorer Charlie Wyke this summer with four Championship clubs now reported to be interested in securing his services.

The 28-year-old striker has scored 30 goals in all competitions for The Black Cats so far this season and has just been shortlisted for the EFL Player of the Season award.

Wyke, who is out of contract at the Stadium of Light in June, is now attracting interest from a host of Championship clubs ahead of the summer transfer window.

Sky Sports’ North East reporter Keith Downie tweeted that Cardiff, Middlesbrough, Millwall and Nottingham Forest are understood to be interested in Wyke. The striker would be able to leave on a free should he not be able to agree a new deal at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland boss Lee Johnson is currently focused on guiding the club back to the second tier after a three year absence – they currently sit third in the table with three games remaining but are without a win in their last six. 

Wyke’s brace against Accrington Stanley saw him become the first Sunderland player since Kevin Phillips in 1999-2000 to score 30 goals in a single season. 

And Phillips believes his former club could struggle to keep hold of Wyke, particularly if they fail to get promoted.

“The more he scores the more people will want him at the end of the day,” the Cats legend told Football Insider.

“If Sunderland don’t go up, there will be teams sniffing around – 100 per cent. When you are posting numbers like [30 goals], naturally, someone is going to be sniffing around.”

Sunderland loanee striker Will Grigg has reacted after putting four past Swindon Town’s Lee Camp for MK Dons last weekend.

The striker arrived at the Stadium of Light for a hefty fee three seasons ago but failed to deliver on Wearside and was loaned out to League One rivals MK Dons last January.

The four-goal haul now leaves the in-form Northern Irishman as MK Dons’ eighth all-time goalscorer in the league.

“It means a lot to have this record and at a club that I love is really special,” Grigg told MK Dons’ website before dropping a subtle hint about his future. “You never know, it might be one I end up breaking again one day!”

“To get four and break a record is brilliant. But full credit to the boys, I know it sounds cliche, but they made it easy for me. They put the ball in great areas consistently.

“The gaffer and Luke have been telling them to look forwards, look for Griggy, looking for the right areas and today it has paid off - I owe them everything and appreciate it.”

“The gaffer told me to get a hat-trick and he’d bring me off! I got that one so early I thought I’d stay on and I got the fourth!

“Charlie is a great lad, he works so hard. He has loads of ability and I was desperate for him to score. He’s got a really bright future. To watch them play with that sort of freedom, we could have scored even more. A few in the dressing room are disappointed not to score or get an assist.”

Sunderland are working on a deal to sign Northampton Town youngster Tom Scott after he impressed on trial.

That’s according to Football Insider.

According to the website, the attacking midfielder is only on a scholarship deal at Northampton and the Black Cats are ready to offer him a professional contract.

The Black Cats are said to view Scott as a potential ‘first-team star of the future.’

The 18-year-old would likely link up with Sunderland’s Under-23s side next season.

Sunderland striker Charlie Wyke has been shortlisted for the EFL’s League One Player of the Season award – along with former Black Cats’ captain George Honeyman.

The winner will be announced on Thursday April 29.

Sunderland AFC and assistant head coach Jamie McAllister have been charged by the Football Association after the Good Friday fixture with Oxford United.

The U’s and their manager, Karl Robinson, have also been the subject of charges from the FA after incidents at half-time and full-time.

Robinson, who was sent to the stands by referee Trevor Kettle during the fixture, alleged after the game that a member of his playing staff had been head-butted at half-time during a feisty encounter at the Stadium of Light.

Jake Vokins made his Sunderland return as the club’s under-23 side beat Reading on Monday.

The full-back, who is on loan at the Stadium of Light from Southampton, played 45 minutes in the 2-1 triumph.

It was Vokins’ first outing since a brush with COVID-19 which left him needing further checks following an initial ECG before being cleared to return to action

But the loanee has now taken a major step towards an eventual first-team return in what will be a welcome boost for Lee Johnson, whose defensive options continue to be depleted with Jordan Willis, Dion Sanderson, Tom Flanagan, Arbenit Xhemajli and Conor McLaughlin all currently sidelined.