Why Sunderland are selling Tommy Watson to Brighton and why the deal was done now after shock announcement

There has been a sense of inevitability about Tommy Watson's departure for Brighton & Hove Albion.

The Premier League club have been persistent in their interest and have made significant moves in the latter stages of the last two transfer windows to try and get their man. On both occasions Sunderland have stood firm, determined to do a deal on their own terms. The reality is that in the meantime, Watson's contract has started to wind down and at some point reality had to bite.

Hence why the deal has been done now, in early April with a handful of games to go in Sunderland's Championship campaign. It is without doubt a sad day for the club, losing an academy graduate before he has really had the chance to make his mark on the club, and another reflection of the reality of life outside the Premier League even for a club of Sunderland's size. At the same time it's a deal that makes undoubted business sense given Watson's contractual situation.

So why have Sunderland done the deal now - rather than last January or waiting until this summer?

Sunderland had been open to doing a deal with January, and it had in fact come very close to happening on deadline day. No final agreement was reached on a fee, but it was clear that Brighton were prepared to get to a level that would meet with Sunderland's approval. By this point, Sunderland had essentially accepted defeat in agreeing a new extension for the 18-year-old and there was a realisation that we were moving to the point of reaching the best deal possible.

The problem was that Régis Le Bris rightly did not want to go into the final stretches of the campaign without two left wingers, given the paramount importance of explosive dribblers to his gameplan. With Romaine Mundle in the treatment room with Watson at the time, sanctioning a departure without a replacement was deemed an absolute no go. There had been times in the closing days of the window when Sunderland thought they could secure the loan arrival of Brighton's own Simon Adingra, but it didn't come off and so Watson stayed.

Brighton stayed at the table in the months after, a reflection of how their outstanding financial position allows them to be more proactive than many clubs in their transfer business. It was abundantly clear that Watson was not going to change his mind, and so Sunderland had to consider the risk of not doing a deal now. The deal on the table is understood to be in the region of £10 million and could reach eleven if a number of fairly realistic add-ons are met. Sunderland have also secured a sell-on fee believed to be in the region of 20%. In the end the view was taken that it was highly unlikely there would be a better offer on the table in the summer, at which point Watson would be in the last 12 months of his deal. There was also the prospect of an injury between now and the summer backing the club into a corner in any future negotiations. It's not lost on anyone behind the scenes that Watson had significant interest and had at one stage looked like he might leave before signing a first professional contract a couple of years back. In that context, it's a major deal for the club's short and medium-term future.

Can Tommy Watson really have a key part to play between now and the end of the season?

Sunderland's gamble is that announcing the deal now will allow all parties to draw a line under it and fully focus on the final 7-10 games of the promotion push, rather than risk speculation casting a shadow over both player and team between now and the end of the campaign. Watson will dominate the headlines for the rest of this week but by the time a potential play-off campaign comes around, all will have had the time to process the developments.

The risk is that a still inexperienced player at senior level now becomes the focus of even greater scrutiny when he takes to the pitch. To that end, social media comments (subsequently deleted) by former Sunderland defender Ian Harte, who is not Watson's agent but has a close family connection with the winger have already been spectacularly unhelpful. Senior Sunderland sources have expressed the view that while disappointed Watson did not see his long-term future at the club, it's ultimately a success story that Watson has broken through at his boyhood club and now gets to move to the very top level - and at a club with a proven track record in giving young players opportunities rather than stockpiling them in academy teams. Harte has already risked undermining that wider attempt to focus on the positives and move forward. For what it's worth, there's no acrimony behind the scenes. Sunderland feel Watson has conducted himself well over the last few windows and recognise the opportunity that knocks.

While it's hard to see Watson now forcing his way past Romaine Mundle in the immediate pecking order, Le Bris is not really one for sentiment and is absolutely focused on the promotion push. If Watson applies himself in training and Sunderland have absolutely no reservations that he'll do so (which is one of the reasons why they stood firm on deadline day earlier this year), then he'll be part of the squad going forward and will have an important role as impact substitute.

So how should we feel about this transfer from a Sunderland perspective?

While accepting that the occasional player sale is vital to the club's sustainability and a reality of life so long as the club is outside the Premier League, Sunderland have been determined to prove that they are not simply a selling club and that their strategy is to build a team capable of getting to the top tier and staying there. To lose Watson is therefore a significant blow but it does mean they go into the summer window in a stronger position. Most of the players who will attract top-tier bids this summer have longer to run on their contracts, and have significantly more senior experience. With this deal Sunderland have at least set down a marker that only the very top dollar will do.

Only time will tell whether Watson has made the right decision but he has without doubt joined a club that will give him a proper opportunity to realise his undoubted talent. He also now has the opportunity to make a defining contribution to Sunderland's bid to reach the top tier themselves, which would give this deal an altogether more positive look when he departs on July 1st.

It also goes without saying that as Sunderland draw up their plans for the summer, they are doing so in the knowledge that they have the budget to be ambitious even if they don't quire reach the promised land this time around.

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