Sunderland poach wonderkid from Liverpool - impressive 16-year-old has 13 G/A this season

The latest wonderkid from Sunderland’s Academy of Light has been revealed.

The Black Cats’ youth system has become renowned for producing the goods over the years, with the likes of Jordan Pickford, Jordan Henderson, Lynden Gooch, Martyn Waghorn, Chris Rigg, Dan Neil, Tommy Watson and Anthony Patterson (to name just a few) produced on Wearside.

Now it seems that Sunderland have unearthed another gem in Marcus Neill, who the Black Cats signed from Liverpool last season. The 16-year-old has contributed 13 goals and assists across the age groups so far this campaign and incredibly, netted the winner for Graeme Murty’s under-21s against Arsenal in the Premier League 2 on Monday night, despite playing well above his age group.

Speaking to Sunderland’s in-house media before the game against Arsenal Neill said: “To have six goals so far obviously feels amazing, and the team, as well, have really helped me to score the goals, and that’s the main thing for me. I think that me and Finn work hard together to score these goals and assists, and it’s obviously led to being called up to the 21s, which I’m really happy about, and hopefully, I can contribute more.”

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Attention for Neill and his under-18 teammates will now turn to Tuesday night when the young Black Cats begin their FA Youth Cup campaign with a third round encounter against Derby County at Pride Park. However, it is unclear if the youngster will feature having played against Arsenal with Trey Ogunsuyi likely to play.

Addressing the prospect of featuring in that clash, Neill said: “I’m massively looking forward to it. It’s going to be a big game against a really good team, and I’m really excited to see what it brings, and hopefully we can get through to the next round. Playing at their ground will be a bit different to what we’re used to, but I can’t wait and it’ll be a great experience for me and the rest of the lads.”