Sunderland have made their decision on Corry Evans, and a number of other players, having submitted their retained list for the 2024-25 season but now they must make another key decision in his absence.
Although Evans' exit had been anticipated, similarly that of Bradley Dack who will also depart the Stadium of Light after just one year with the club, it leaves another big hole to fill both on and off the field at the Stadium of Light. And it's a position Sunderland have needed to address over the course of the last two-and-a-half transfer windows since Evans' Sunderland career took a significant downturn through injury.
Evans may have been a bit-part player for the majority of the last 18 months after suffering a serious knee injury which wrecked his 2022-23 campaign when forced off early in Sunderland’s Wear-Tees derby win over Middlesbrough last January, but his impact at the club should not go unnoticed.
SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE: Win a pair of Black Cats Bar season tickets for Sunderland's 2024-25 campaign
Having arrived at the Stadium of Light on a free transfer from Blackburn Rovers in 2021, the Northern Irishman has played a big role in helping the club move back up the Football League ladder, out of League One and into the Championship play-offs last season. The midfielder was immediately handed the title of club captain by Lee Johnson upon being brought into the club which demonstrated the esteem he was held in. Likewise was the club’s decision to extend Evans’ contract by another year despite having suffered an ACL injury.
That injury came as a major setback for both the club and the player – a setback neither have really managed to deal with and fully overcome as yet.
Evans featured over 40 times for club and country during his first season on Wearside and was rewarded by lifting the play-off winners trophy at Wembley Stadium when Sunderland finally clinched promotion from League One and banished their play-off hoodoo in the national stadium once and for all against Wycombe Wanderers.
Despite the club’s philosophy of integrating and recruiting younger players, Evans continued to lead Sunderland back in the Championship where he remained a mainstay throughout the first half of the season until picking up that season-ending injury against Middlesbrough. It took little over 15 months of Evans’ career before he made his return in Sunderland’s 1-0 defeat to Millwall in their penultimate home game of this season.
READ MORE: Sunderland submit retained list as Corry Evans and Bradley Dack exits confirmed
For months, both former head coach Michael Beale and interim head coach Mike Dodds were quizzed over Evans, both in terms of his future at the club and his impact around the Academy of Light during his prolonged absence. The upshot was parallel with both highlighting how integral the 33-year-old has been around the building, despite not being able to compete.
"Look, if we can get him in and around the changing room, having someone like him there, he can be that glue between the information you're giving and making sure that on the pitch in difficult moments, you're sticking to the game plan and staying positive,” Beale said of the importance of having Evans involved.
Beale was never able to call upon Evans during his time in the North East after the midfielder suffered a slight setback soon after his return to full training earlier this year, with Beale sacked just 12 games into his tenure. Dodds, meanwhile, has often reiterated how Evans’ presence has been important throughout his 13-game period in charge with the desire long since being to reward the midfielder with minutes in the final weeks of the season, ultimately, as a farewell.
READ MORE:
- 'Astonishing' Danny Rohl: Why he is 'destined for the top' with or without Sunderland
- Paul Heckingbottom: A Championship promotion that sets him apart in head coach search
- Rene Maric insight: 'Tactics don't exist,' identity and head coach ambition
- The story of Will Still and why Sunderland are right to be interested
It’s a feeling which is shared among his team-mates, too, as well as the club’s academy system with the likes of Harrison Jones, Ellis Taylor and academy boss Graeme Murty all having been outspoken about Evans’ impact this season, despite not being involved on the field until the final fortnight of the campaign.
"He’s a proper person and a good athlete,” Sunderland’s academy head coach Murty said of Evans after he made his return against Newcastle United’s under-21s. “He lives right and he works right and his habits daily are top drawer.
“For him as a role model for young players, he’s been top for them. They need to absorb that to see what it takes every day to have a proper career and make sure they learn from it.”
Young midfielder Jones, who has excelled in Murty’s team in the Premier League 2 this season, is one of those players to have benefited from Evans’ advice and guidance. The club’s under-21s are often integrated into first team training sessions with all facets of Sunderland’s squads under the same roof at the Academy of Light to help forge their relationships with one another.
"Every minute on the pitch with the first team in training is a learning minute. They're obviously at the next level, which I'm trying to get to, so being on the pitch with them, you pick up so much,” said Jones.
"I had lots of mentorship with Pritch [Alex Pritchard] before he left. I did some one-to-ones with Corry, who's been great. He obviously has lots of experience and is club captain so it's great to get his advice and help."
That will be a difficult trait to replace in itself as Sunderland prepare to lose another senior figure within their ranks – Evans joined by 30-year-old Dack in heading for the exit at the Stadium of Light which, by consequence, will reduce the average age of Sunderland’s already youngest squad in the Championship further ahead of what feels like a crucial summer.
But Evans will be missed on the field, too. Within the time of his absence from the first team since January 2023, Sunderland have felt a significant Evans-shaped void in their midfield at times.
Although the Northern Irishman has made just three appearances in his return from injury, his absence in the second half of last season was felt immeasurably before this season, again, Sunderland have sometimes lacked the leadership qualities and guile in that defensive midfield area of the pitch.
Dan Neil and Pierre Ekwah have been tasked with filling the hole vacated by Evans this season, both of whom would, arguably, like to play in more advanced positions if they were given the option. And yet Sunderland’s lack of depth in that area of the field is why they have been forced into piling that burden on both Neil and Ekwah throughout the campaign. Although statistically, their numbers don’t differ a great deal from Evans, it is positionally where you can make a case to see where Evans has been and will be missed.
Take the defensive maps below, for example. On the left is Evans’ defensive map from the 21.8 90 minutes he completed prior to that season-ending injury against Middlesbrough in comparison to Ekwah’s 36.2 90 minutes featured this season.
The hotter the zone, the higher the defensive intensity and while both have a similar number of ‘red zones,’ it is Evans who has a higher intensity in those defensive actions with Ekwah having just one significant ‘hot zone’ on the right side of the field. By contrast, Evans has four of those zones, all in front of the centre-back positions which demonstrates how much of a screen has was able to provide last season.
Equally, there can be a similar contrast between Evans and Neil when it comes to the areas of the pitch in which their defensive actions are taking place.
As Neil’s individual map shows below, although he has more involvement in central areas of the field than Ekwah, the highest intensity of his defensive work tends to favour the left-hand side of the pitch.
Of the 299 defensive actions inside his own half last season, Evans’ stats included 10 blocks, 35 clearances and 29 interceptions with 200 pressures.
Evans will never likely be able to carry the ball under pressure with the skill and elegance of Neil, nor will he be able to boast a similar passing range or test the opposition goalkeeper quite like Ekwah. That’s because there are differing traits to all three players, with Evans considered much more of an outright holding midfielder. Where Neil registers high in stats such as progressive carries [third behind Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts this season] and Ekwah scores well with Neil in progressive passes [third and first, respectively, this season], Evans is much more regimented in his play, offering the kind of screening Sunderland’s defensive line sometimes needs.
It means the pressure will be on Sunderland, again, this summer to address a situation which has been present since last January in finding a replacement for the Northern Irishman. Sunderland, realistically, needed to find a replacement for Evans following that injury picked up 16 months ago but they were unable to navigate the final week of the transfer window to their satisfaction with Paris Saint-Germain loanee Edouard Michut featuring more in the second half of the season in Evans' absence.
In that sense, there was a strong argument to be made for triggering Evans’ contract into a further year in order to provide cover in the hope the 33-year-old were able to complete a successful pre-season schedule alongside a potential replacement.
But with the club’s policy of recruiting younger players, it’s easy to understand why both Evans and Dack were moved on, particularly when you consider the likes of Danny Batth, Lynden Gooch and Alex Pritchard have all left the club over the last 12 months.
Jay Matete’s encouraging start to pre-season last summer offered hope he could provide the club an option in that defensive midfield role before he suffered a setback during the club’s tour of America. Matete was included in the club’s retained list but there remains uncertainty around his future and whether he can step up and operate as a top Championship defensive midfielder which means Sunderland’s recruitment drive this summer could require more than just one addition in that area of the field as well as the glaringly obvious situation regarding a centre-forward.
Although club sporting director Kristjaan Speakman labelled Evans as a ‘huge influence around the team and in the club’ when handing the midfielder a one-year extension last February, the midfielder’s output in terms of minutes on the pitch will likely have been a deciding factor in the decision this time around with Evans making just 67 appearances across a three year spell.
In the aftermath of his injury last season, Evans began his coaching badges in the likely event of an exit this year, with the 33-year-old set to continue the next stage of his coaching career during the off-season before a decision will be made regarding his future in conjunction with the offers he may or may not receive. Evans also admitted to enjoying the extended period the injury has allowed him to spend with his young family over the course of the last 12 months, something which will also be a factor in his future decision.
"It's been really difficult, more mentally than anything,” Evans said of his rehabilitation period. “Being away from football for that long a time, you're just concentrating on getting fit and back to a level that you can.
"It's a lot of long hours in the gym and being in throughout the summer when all the lads are off. Personally it's been tough, but at the same time it's been good to work on other things in the gym and working on strength.
"I've managed to start my coaching badges and I'll be doing the next part of that this summer. It's been a good way for me to concentrate on that side of the game and it’s something to do after I retire and set myself up that way.
"It's been great to have a bit more time with my family as well. I've got a young family with three kids and with football, you're always travelling and you're in most of the week and away on internationals.
"It was nice to get time with them and I think they've enjoyed it as well having me about."
Evans penned an emotional farewell to the club’s supporters ahead of his departure this summer, declaring his ‘honour’ in being named captain over the course of the last three years which, perhaps, highlights another characteristic Sunderland are going to miss in a senior figure understanding the demands of a club like Sunderland.
Evans began his career with Manchester United and made over 200 appearances for Blackburn, but it is Sunderland where the Belfast native’s fondest affiliation lies.
“This club, and all of you, have been my family for the past three years, and leading this team as captain has been the greatest honour of my career. Your unwavering support, passion, and loyalty have been a constant source of inspiration to me and my team-mates.
“Together, we've experienced unforgettable highs. That day at Wembley is one that I will never forget. It's been a privilege to fight for this badge and to represent you on the pitch.
“Though my journey with Sunderland is coming to an end, myself and my family will forever be supporting you. Thank you for everything, and I wish the club nothing but success in the future.”
There is a reluctant acceptance that Sunderland have made the right decision with Evans in not extending his stay at the Stadium of Light. Where the decision made over Dack felt slightly more straightforward given his lack of an impact in his solitary season on Wearside, the decision with Evans feels as though it was a little more hesitant.
But the decision that comes next in how they replace him is going to be crucial. For all Sunderland have recruited ‘project players’ in recent transfer windows, the need for a recognised, ready-made midfielder is essential this summer, even more so than in the last two transfer windows when it went unaddressed.
Evans leaves with his name firmly in the ‘good business' category for Sunderland, given his impact in helping the club out of League One and consolidating, and more, in the Championship last season. Finding another like him, however, may be difficult.
Read the rules here