The Manchester United view on loan chances of Sunderland target Ethan Galbraith

The Black Cats need to revamp their central midfield options after experienced trio Max Power, Grant Leadbitter and Josh Scowen were all released at the end of the season, Power has since signed for League One rivals Wigan Athletic and Scowen has signed for Wycombe.

Sunderland have options including Carl Winchester and Dan Neil but midfield additions will be high on the priority list for head coach Lee Johnson ahead of the new season.

Sunderland returned to pre-season training last week and drew 2-2 with Spennymoor Town last weekend. Their next friendly is away to York City on July 21.

As revealed by the Echo last month, one midfield option being considered is a loan move for Northern Ireland youngster Galbraith, with Manchester United set to allow him to move out on loan next season for the next stage of his development.

However, should Sunderland firm up their interest, they are likely to face strong competition from Championship clubs and League One promotion rivals.

The 20-year-old midfielder made his debut for the Under-23s in February 2019, less than two years after he signed from Linfield, but he has quickly impressed.

It is understood that Manchester United are keen to secure loan moves for players such as Galbraith in order for them to gain valuable experience in a first-team setting.

The Manchester Evening News report a large number of youngsters are set to depart on loan, they reported: “Of the 18 players who took part in the first day of pre-season this week, as many as 12 of them could end up leaving the club before the start of the season.

“Many of those are youth players looking to gain loan valuable experience elsewhere. But Solskjaer is also aware that he will need to sell a few squad members if he is to strengthen quite as much as he'd like to in the weeks ahead.”

They added: “Midfield duo Dylan Levitt and Ethan Galbraith are both also targeting exits to accelerate their progress this summer, while forward Anthony Elanga is open to something similar if the right opportunity comes about.”

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