Ethan Moore and Tom Lavery are set to leave Sunderland after spending time out on loan this season

Sunderland academy pair Ethan Moore and Tom Lavery are set to leave the club this summer, The Echo understands.

The two young players are expected to move on when their contracts come to an end as Sunderland continue to work through a number of academy retained list decisions ahead of the summer.

Lavery signed a two-year professional deal two summers ago, with Sunderland holding an option to extend that agreement by a further year. That option has not been triggered, meaning the right-back is now set to leave the Academy of Light.

The defender has been with Sunderland since the age of nine and has produced form in recent years that pushed him close to the first-team picture. He scored a late comeback winner against Aston Villa on his U21 debut in September 2023 and was named among the first-team substitutes three times in the Championship during the 2023-24 campaign.

Lavery played 24 times across Sunderland’s U21 and U18 sides during the 2024-25 season before heading out for senior experience. He spent time with Cliftonville in Northern Ireland earlier this campaign, making 14 league appearances, and also featured in the Irish League Cup and County Antrim Shield.

He later joined Halifax Town in the National League, where he made eight league appearances and scored once. Across the full campaign, including his time with Sunderland’s U21s and his spells at Halifax and Cliftonville, Lavery made 28 appearances, scored four goals and registered three assists.

Moore, meanwhile, signed his first professional contract with Sunderland in the summer of 2023 and has long been viewed as a talented attacking player within the club’s youth set-up. A wide midfielder who can also operate as a forward, he had previously impressed at U18 level with his pace, power and direct running.

His best spell came during the 2022-23 campaign, when he scored eight times in the U18 Premier League and also stepped up to make seven appearances for the U21s, scoring once. He has, however, had to deal with injury setbacks during his time at the Academy of Light, including a rehabilitation period during the 2023-24 season. Moore spent time out on loan at Gateshead this season, gaining senior football experience in the National League. He made eight league appearances for the Heed, scoring once, while also featuring in the National League Cup.

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The departures of Moore and Lavery form part of a wider academy reshuffle at the Academy of Light. As previously revealed by The Echo, Dan Cameron, Adam Richardson, Jake Waters and Harrison Jones are also expected to move on this summer, while Sunderland have triggered options for the likes of Ben Metcalf, Jenson Jones and Luke Bell, while goalkeeper Matty Young has verbally agreed a deal to extend his stay at Sunderland.

Those decisions are never easy, particularly for players who have spent several years in the system. Lavery has been at Sunderland for well over a decade, while Moore has also had to battle through injury disruption after showing real promise in the academy.

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