Why time is running out for Sunderland quintet to secure moves after Premier League squad snub
Sunderland have been working hard to find new clubs for a number of players no longer in their plans
As the final transfer windows across the world start to close, options for those left out of Sunderland's Premier League squad last week are now dwindling.
There were few surprises when Sunderland named their 25-man squad to take them up until the January window, with the need to name eight homegrown players meaning some senior pros missed out even accounting for the significant number of U21 players (who do not need to be named on the list) at the club.
As expected, Sunderland left out those players who were not involved in pre-season after Régis Le Bris informed them they would not be part of his squad for the Premier League campaign. Though Sunderland were able to secure loan moves to the Polish top tier for Nazariy Rusyn and Milan Aleksic after the UK window closed, Joe Anderson, Jay Matete, Timothée Pembélé, Abdoullah Ba and Ian Poveda remain at the club.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference last week, hours ahead of Sunderland's squad being published, Le Bris said that there were 'maybe' still one or two possibilities for those players to go out and get regular football. Since then, a number of potential options have been taken off the table with the windows in Qatar and Turkey amongst those to have closed. Now only a handful where the standard of football would realistically be high enough to make a loan or permanent switch viable for the players in question remain. The Serbian window closes in two days, the Greek window in nine. The UAE window shuts in two weeks, one of the very last across the globe to close.
Sunderland's squad list means there is no immediate route back to the first team for those players, and Le Bris has made clear that there will be limited opportunities to train with the senior team unless there are a raft of injuries that leave the squad short. The Africa Cup of Nations could of course be one of those occasions, when a number of senior players will depart for a minimum of a few weeks.
Poveda and Matete have already represented the U21s at times this season and earned praise for their attitude when doing so, and that could be a valuable outlet for these players to ensure they remain match fit for when the January window opens. A solution to one problem, however, throws up another. Sunderland will be reluctant to drop more on than or two players into that group at any one time, in order to ensure that the pathway for their best young academy players isn't being blocked.
The dilemma for Sunderland and those players now is whether it is better to stick it out for a few months, in the hope that there is more concrete interest from the top leagues when January comes around. By that stage injuries, form or even a change in management at other clubs might mean they are prepared to take a calculated gamble that they decided against in the summer. It goes without saying that having seen their contracts improve as a result of promotion, players across the board at Sunderland are prepared to leave only if the right opportunity presents itself.
While Anderson and Matete are out of contract next summer, Pembele, Ba and Poveda still have a number of years to run on their respective deals. It's a manageable situation but for all parties, one that is clearly far from ideal.
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The two talented Sunderland youngsters who missed out on a summer loan move
There was also some disappointment behind the scenes at Sunderland that they were not able to secure loan moves for Harrison Jones and Ahmed Abdullahi. EFL interest in Jones at a level that would be beneficial to his development didn't firm up in the final stages of the window, while a switch to Ligue 1 Angers for Abdullahi fell through. The National League remains a potential loan avenue for Jones, but both may feel a few months training regular with the senior team will actually be beneficial for their development given the quality of the group. While the pathway to the first team looks congested for Jones right now, that might change at least a little when the Africa Cup of Nations begins. As for Abdullahi, after a season in which he struggled for regular training time due to injury, it might be no bad thing that he can continue to settle on Wearside and potentially top up his match fitness with U21 minutes.
In both cases, it seems wise to wait for the January window and to reassess what options are available then.
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