Transfer talk is heating up following Sunderland’s play-off success at Wembley

Well, it didn't take long.

Just over a week to enjoy and reminisce but now it's back to the reality, another day bringing another transfer rumour and news of a potential Sunderland departure. This is not an exhaustive list but we have already had stories reporting that Jobe Bellingham, Dan Neil, Romaine Mundle, Eliezer Mayenda and Trai Hume have summer suitors. It's a matter of time before Chris Rigg joins that list, if indeed it hasn't happened already.

To be clear, this is most likely entirely accurate reporting. Scouts have now for a long time been queueing up to watch football at the Stadium of Light and if clubs weren't paying extremely close attention to the youngest squad outside of the Premier League, one which has just won promotion and done without the benefit of parachute payments, you'd be asking what on earth they are doing.

It makes for an anxious time for Sunderland fans, even amidst the excitement of the return to the Premier League. Step back a little, though, and there is good reason to be confident that the core of this group will still be in place when the new season begins.

Jobe Bellingham's departure is the one that right appears to be a matter of when, rather than if. Though Sunderland will negotiate firmly to secure the best possible price, they are highly unlikely to stand in the way of a player who turned down Premier League interest to spearhead a promotion push last summer. Drive the team forward on the pitch, develop, move to elite club, bank Sunderland big profit: This was always the plan even if there was some hope that promotion might lead Bellingham to choose one more year on Wearside. It's undoubtedly a big loss for Sunderland, one of the players in the squad who you could make a strong bet would be comfortable stepping up a level. Though there are some immensely talented midfielders in the squad for next season, Bellingham's box-to-box abilities will need replacing.

Assuming the sale does happen, however, then it's one that makes other high-profile departures significantly less likely. Sunderland did not come into this window needing to sell and their position would if Bellingham leaves be incredibly strong. Having sold Jack Clarke to Ipswich Town last summer, they were already in profit for their transfer business this summer ever been before selling Tommy Watson to Brighton for a deal that eventually could reach £11 million. The permanent deal to sign Enzo Le Fée from AS Roma will of course take up a significant chunk of the budget but Sunderland will regardless head into the rest of the window with no PSR concerns and with significant room to invest.The focus will be on adding to the core of the team, not losing more from it.

Though almost every window now brings rumours of a raft of departures, the reality is always different. Sources behind the scenes have admitted that this summer would have been a significant pressure point had Sunderland not won promotion, just as it would have been had they failed to beat Wycombe to escape League One back in 2022. There were undoubtedly a raft of players in this squad destined for the top tier next season, but now Sunderland are there the mood behind the scenes is bullish.

To see why Sunderland are unlikely to sanction multiple departures this summer, you only have to look at the reasons behind the few high-profile departures of the last few years. In every case where Sunderland have sold someone they would ideally have liked to keep, it has been forced by the fact that the player was heading towards the end of their contract with no sign of agreeing a new one.

This summer, there are only two established first-team players whose contracts expire next summer with no option for the club to extend: Dan Neil and Dennis Cirkin. So in both cases Sunderland are clearly vulnerable if contract talks do not progress well in the coming weeks, but it is far too early in the summer to say that a resolution can't be reached. In both cases, winning promotion has bolstered hopes of agreeing a new deal.

It's true that a key part of Sunderland's recruitment policy is to demonstrate to players that they will not stand in their way if their development outstrips that of the club's on the pitch and they want to pursue a new opportunity. Getting top talent to sign for the club and then agree subsequent contract extensions is only possible if you demonstrate that you will respect their wishes further down the line. That was part of the reason for Jack Clarke's departure for Ipswich last summer after interest from Burnley had been rebuffed a year previous, and will be a key factor in Bellingham's now seemingly likely departure now. The key is in the timing, though, and Sunderland have shown over recent times that there is far more to their policy than selling for a quick profit when the opportunity arises. In many windows the rumoured interest in players has often never materialised in an actual bid, so clear has the message been from within the club that sales aren't to be considered.

You can argue that the club could at times have shown greater flexibility and ambition in certain transfer windows, particularly around the once incredibly thorny issue of strikers, but you can't say they have been proactive sellers of key players.

Sunderland have work to do in the weeks ahead, of that there is no doubt. A number of players who have been a key part of their rise to the Premier League will be aware of the interest from elsewhere and expecting improved deals as a result. They will also be keen to see the club's ambition, and that they are serious about competing in the Premier League now they have made it.

There will be change at Sunderland this summer but the foundations have been strengthened considerably by that win over Sheffield United.

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