Lyle Taylor says he turned down Sunderland after a contract dispute with then owner Stewart Donald over goal bonuses

Former AFC Wimbledon striker Lyle Taylor has explained why he turned down Sunderland in 2018, revealing that contract negotiations collapsed after then-owner Stewart Donald refused to include a standard goal bonus in the deal.

Taylor, who instead joined Charlton Athletic and went on to help them win promotion from League One, says he met Jack Ross, toured the academy facilities and was close to joining the Black Cats before the talks took a surprising turn.

Speaking to the UndrTheCosh podcast, he said Sunderland offered him £6,000 per week, but the deal broke down when he requested a goal bonus. Taylor explained: “When I signed for Charlton, I got offered six grand a week at Sunderland in League One. And I thought I met Jack Ross and everything, and I really liked Jack Ross. I went and saw their training ground, me and Chris Maguire, because we had the same agent. Saw it all, pretty brilliant."

He continued: "I asked him for a goal bonus, and the owner of the football club at that point said if you miss a chance, you're gonna pay me back your goal bonus. I don't think that's how it works. It was like now you've done that."

Taylor added that he then spoke with Charlton manager Lee Bowyer, who acted quickly to seal the deal. "I've met Lee Bowyer and Steve Gallen at a hotel in Canary Wharf, and they called my agent straight after the meeting and said Lyle isn't the person that we've been led to believe that he was. Because I was apparently known to be quite outspoken and could be a bit of a problem and whatever."

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Despite being impressed by Sunderland as a club, Taylor said the offer no longer felt right. "At that point, having met both managers, seen both clubs, Sunderland is an institution. It would have been incredible to play for Sunderland, but it wasn't right for me at that time. And so I decided to go for what felt right from a footballing standpoint rather than the money at that point."

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Taylor later reflected that choices in football are unpredictable. "Now no one would ever know what would have happened if I'd have gone to Sunderland. No one will ever know what would have happened if I'd gone to Brentford instead of Forest. But Forest was the first decision I made that wasn't for me; it was for the big picture. And from a footballing point of view, it didn't go great, but football, you don't really have a great deal of control over that all the time."

Taylor eventually signed for Charlton on a free transfer in 2018, scoring 25 goals and becoming one of the most prolific forwards in League One that season. Sunderland, under Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven, would remain in League One for four seasons, the Addicks beating the Black Cats in that campaign’s play-off final.

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