Transfer news: Sunderland loan deal ends as highly-rated player returns to parent club

Sunderland saw one of their loan deals end last week with one highly-rated youngster returning from a spell in non-league.

Well-thought-of goalkeeper Adam Richardson joined Hebburn Town on loan from Sunderland earlier this season but has now returned to the Academy of Light after the agreed month time period ended last week with the stopper now forming part of Graeme Murty’s under-21 group once again.

Hebburn Town were keen to retain the services of Richardson the stopper contributed with a string of positive performances for the Northern Premier League club. The Sunderland man marked his debut with a solid display in a 2-1 home win against Lancaster City before making it six points from two games with an impressive away performance at Hyde United.

A first defeat of his temporary stint with Hebburn came in the FA Trophy exit at the hands of FC United of Manchester with Richardson also playing in the defeats to Matlock Town and Macclesfield. Though Richardson has now returned to the Academy of Light, Hornets boss Daniel Moore was keen to keep the goalkeeper beyond the initial one-month loan.

He told The Echo earlier this season: “The biggest thing has been his attitude and he’s completely embraced men’s football and how different it is to academy football. He’s enjoying himself and that’s the main thing you want to see from a young lad coming from the environment he has been in.

“He’s got stuck in, he’s a calming influence and he’s just very good at what he does. You can see why he’s at Sunderland because of the way he carries himself on and off the pitch. Hopefully, we can try and keep him because it will give Kieran (Hunter, Hebburn goalkeeper) some extra time to fully recover from is a bit of a ligament injury. He’s enjoying himself, I think he wants to stay so we will hopefully be able to get something sorted with Sunderland and keep him in for the next month or two.”

Last season, the 20-year-old played for Sunderland during pre-season under Tony Mowbray and was set to join the senior goalkeeping group behind Nathan Bishop and first-choice Anthony Patterson before sustaining an injury towards the end of last summer.

After returning to full fitness, Sunderland were looking to loan Richardson to the National League in February before the shot-stopper picked up another injury. After his second comeback, Richardson played a key role as Graeme Murty’s under-21s reached the Premier League 2 play-off final against Tottenham.

Sunderland have a good record when it comes to goalkeepers, having produced England's number one Jordan Pickford and current Sunderland first-choice Patterson. Patterson has made 134 Sunderland appearances aged just 24 after a spell at Notts County in the National League. Another of Sunderland’s highly-rated goalkeepers, Matty Young, is also currently out on loan to EFL side Salford City, who play their football in League Two.

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