Sunderland attacker linked with Hibernian switch during January transfer window

Sunderland attacker Jewison Bennette has been linked with a loan move during the January transfer window.

Bennette has not featured much in the first team this season, though latterly he has been sidelined first by a virus and then by a minor ankle knock. The winger has returned to fitness but is facing significant competition for places and as such has been linked with a move to Hibs in Scotland during the window.

The Costa Rica international has made just two senior appearances for the club so far during the current campaign after appearing in 18 games last season and is thought to be keen to head out on loan. Sunderland, however, would prefer the player to remain in the United Kingdom if he does leave.

Speaking last month, Sunderland assistant head coach Mike Dodds stated: "Any of those young players who aren't playing as much as we'd like, I think it [a loan] needs to be discussed because we have invested in them and we see them as a long-term project," Dodds said.

"Loans are a way to fix the minutes that they need. The issue isn't the loan, it's finding the right type of loan for whichever player - Jewi or whoever else - and what they need.

"The discussion around Jewi will be not so much does he need a loan, but what type of loan can we get him that is best for his development? Whether it be Jewi or any young player, we are fully aware that the best way to develop them is for them to play minutes and that's not lost on us. We're not going to put Jewi in a team that, respectfully, is going to smash it from back to front.

"We need to be really selective in terms of where we can get Jewi where someone wants to play him, that plays a similar type of style as Sunderland where he can practice the things that we want him to practice and that we want him to get better at. It might be abroad, it might be in this country. Those are things that we need to decide for what is right for this football club."