Sunderland could look to sell a key player this summer

Sunderland are likely to sell a key player for a “solid fee” this summer, despite not facing any notable threat from PSR at the present moment in time, according to football finance expert.

The Black Cats have made a habit of signing young players with high potential for low fees in recent seasons, and have also been open to the prospect of selling key talents for sizeable profits as a means of furthering their recruitment strategy.

To that end, a number of current members of Regis Le Bris’ squad - including the likes of teenage midfield duo Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham - have been touted as possible candidates for an exit in recent months, and The Athletic writer Chris Weatherspoon has suggested that a high-profile departure could be on the cards on Wearside over the coming weeks.

What has been said about Sunderland’s current financial situation?

Speaking on BBC Radio Newcastle’s Total Sport, Weatherspoon said: “When we talk about PSR and stuff like that, it's not really an issue for Sunderland. It's not something they have to concern themselves with. And that's even the case when, in the Championship, you're allowed to lose less money than if you're in the Premier League. Sunderland just don't have any issues there because although they're loss-making, like just about every Championship club is, they're not loss-making to the extent that it's posing a problem.

“It would be very hard to criticise them in terms of the way they've embarked upon signing young players for pretty small fees, I think. And they're very coy around disclosing this, but I think the most they've spent on someone is about £3 million to £3.5 million, tops. They've got several players in the squad right now that are worth, you'd probably say, quite a lot more than that.

“I guess the problem for Sunderland really is, as it is for any club in the Championship, that the longer you're there, the longer you continue to lose money. I mean, Preston North End might go down this weekend. And they've spent the last nine years... they've consistently finished between seventh and 14th or 15th. So they've neither really bothered the top end nor the bottom, and they've lost over a hundred million pounds in doing that. So that's the cautionary tale, and that's true of loads of Championship teams. So I think that's the risk really.

“I mean, I guess by the looks of it, the business model at Sunderland is they sell one player per summer for a solid fee. I would expect that will probably happen. I would say that would certainly happen if they don't get promoted. It might happen even if they do.

“I think that's the issue really. If you can sell two of them for £20 million a piece or whatever, obviously that's great. But that then makes the job of replacing them and coming again next season all the harder.

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“And obviously as well, other teams are watching what's going on. So if they see Sunderland have sold X players for X amount, it's not like they're going to give away their stars for cheap.

“And you also have the thing in that Sunderland certainly, I think domestically, have proven pretty adept at picking up players from elsewhere that for lower fees than they would command not long after they've joined Sunderland. So you'll get other clubs going, ‘Well, hang on, why are they interested?’. A bit like when we talk about Brighton; if Brighton go after a player now, it's generally accepted that they're a good player, and that puts a premium on. I'm not going to say Sunderland are at the level of Brighton in doing that, but it's kind of that signalling impact.”

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