When Kristjaan Speakman addressed Sunderland’s transfer strategy recently, both in terms of incomings and outgoings, there was an unnerving sense of relaxation about the process.
Sunderland had spent over four months searching and finalising an agreement for the appointment of Régis Le Bris as the club’s new head coach – a process which led to concern and caution from both supporters and players as contract negotiations hit buffers and the fear of Sunderland’s exceedingly long hangover from last season creeping into the new campaign felt a distinct reality.
In came Le Bris, however, coupled with a series of positive marketing ploys and the confirmation of one of those contract hagglers signing on the dotted line in Chris Rigg, and suddenly everything was a little rosier.
But that relaxed approach from Speakman has been commonplace throughout his period as sporting director with the club, particularly when it comes to transfers and player contracts. There was a wry smile and a joke as to how soon the question regarding the addition of a new centre-forward would take, for example, diffusing any potential tension in the room. But for all Speakman, and majority owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, have addressed the need to learn from mistakes as far as some on-and-off field matters go from last season, the retaining process has not been an area for debate.
While questions have been raised over the recruitment in certain transfer windows under the club’s current ownership, there have also been a number of successful windows, too.
Since their arrival, Sunderland have been able to nurture several talents, such as Rigg, through the academy as well as identify a number of potential assets from other academies; the likes of Jack Clarke, Dennis Cirkin, Dan Ballard, Aji Alese, Pierre Ekwah and Trai Hume all arriving on Wearside as young, burgeoning talents at different stages of their development, but all with a point to prove and a potentially high ceiling.
That hasn’t gone unnoticed.
For all Sunderland, as a collective, endured a disappointing season last year, there remain a number of players who still see their stock relatively high as the vultures from Premier League and European clubs begin to circle around SR5 in the hope of being able to pluck one of these rising talents away from the Stadium of Light.
And therein is the caveat of Sunderland’s decline over the last six months – a decline which, admittedly, was caused by the club’s hierarchy and are the mistakes in which they have insisted they will learn from in due course.
While Sunderland escaped the walkout from Alex Neil by appointing Tony Mowbray, their decision to remove Mowbray mid-season last year unanimously backfired which led to a forgetful second half to the season, and Sunderland languishing just six points above a return to League One. What emanates from that is Sunderland possessing a pool of players who have Premier League potential representing, on the face of it, a middling Championship club, a scenario which leaves the club exposed to a flurry of interest this summer and, potentially, subsequent player unrest.
That interest has already started a month out from the new Championship season getting under way. While Sunderland’s talisman Clarke has often been the name centred around transfer speculation on Wearside, it’s elsewhere in the squad we are now seeing admirers – although the auction on Clarke is likely to come the deeper into the summer we progress.
This week, both Ekwah and Hume have been linked with potential moves away from Sunderland; Ekwah emerging as a leading target for Serie A side Udinese while Hume has been linked with Galatasaray. We Are Sunderland understands no approach has been made for Hume, who attracted the attention of Aston Villa earlier this year, but a formal approach for Ekwah is expected in the coming days or weeks.
That’s not to say an offer for Hume won’t come. The Northern Irishman, statistically, was one of the Championship’s leading defenders last season, particularly when analysing data such as tackles and interceptions, with the player himself this summer expressing a desire to reach the Premier League in his career.
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Hume and Ekwah join Clarke, Ballard, Patrick Roberts, Anthony Patterson, Dan Neil and Jobe Bellingham as players who have garnered interest of late – Sunderland having rebuffed offers for teenager Jobe this summer with Crystal Palace, Brentford and Tottenham Hotspur all monitoring his situation, while the club have routinely rejected approaches made for Clarke over the last 12 months both domestically and from across Europe.
Sunderland’s strategy since being promoted has always been clear in that they would sign players with potential to help develop and advance the club. The issue being that certain players will accelerate at a much more advanced rate than the club will, whereby interest and a potential move away from the club to reinvest the finances gained becomes an option. As yet, Sunderland’s resolve had yet to be rigorously tested throughout their squad, aside from Clarke.
The club’s biggest sale under the current ownership saw Ross Stewart move to Southampton in a deal worth up to £10million – a deal which was generally accepted given the Scotsman’s injury issues coupled with his reluctance to sign a new deal at the Stadium of Light with just one-year remaining. This summer, however, Sunderland are reaching a juncture where they are braced for multiple offers for any number of their players, with the reality being that one of their high-value assets may have to move on to supplement the rest of the squad in order to improve on last season’s 16th place finish.
Sitting inside a meeting room inside the Academy of Light, Speakman addressed the situation: “We've always tried to retain top talent. Those conversations are ongoing for a number of players,” he said.
“I think we try to keep a really, really close contact with the agents of all the players to know how they're feeling, where they feel they are at the minute, what they think is the next step for them, how comfortable are they with the environment, what can we do to chop and change things here to make sure they're really, really comfortable?
“And naturally, if anyone's got a contract they're starting to get towards the conclusion of, then we're always really active on that front.”
He added: “It's really difficult to predict what will happen through the summer. But I think all I can say on the player retention piece is that we've had a really strong record on that.
“I can't comment on the press stuff about specific names because I don't really accept it. I don't really have too much knowledge of what's out there, but there’s of a number of talented players we've got, and the backhanded compliment of having a talented group is there's going to be constant interest.
“As I've said before, I'd much rather get loads of interest in our talented players than be struggling to name talented players in our group. So, I don't want to go into the individual ins and outs because those things can always chop and change. But I can reiterate our strategy, and our intent is to retain our top talent.
“We believe that by developing each year and improving each year, we'll be able to reach our goals.”
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Speakman’s acknowledgement of acting astutely when it comes to player contracts is, perhaps, why there was such a relaxed demeanour. Of all those players linked with moves away from the club at various stages over the last 12 months, Clarke and Neil are the most vulnerable as they enter the final two-years of their current deals.
Neil, alongside Rigg, was the second player to stall over a new contract this summer, while discussions with Clarke reached an impasse last year. Both players have Premier League suitors and Clarke, particularly, has demonstrated over the course of the last two seasons in the Championship that he is worthy of a shot at stepping back up to the Premier League, five years on from his move to Tottenham.
Keeping hold of Clarke, 23, for a third consecutive transfer window seems unlikely given the number of clubs who retain an interest in his services but, as with Neil and the majority of the squad, Sunderland hold a strong bargaining hand.
Neil may yet agree to extended terms having experienced a flavour of what new head coach Le Bris is all about in his first month in charge. Either way, Sunderland have constantly reiterated the need for clubs to pay a premium for their players if they are to sell.
Sunderland’s barometer is Stewart.
Despite having little under a year remaining on his contract, Sunderland were able to hold out for an eight-figure sum which felt like good value in the current climate and the circumstances surrounding the Scottish centre-forward. That will likely be the case for any player linked with moves this summer.
Reports last month hinted at Sunderland baulking over similar sums for Jobe, with some outlets reporting it would take as much as £20m to pry the 18-year-old away from the Stadium of Light. Having contributed towards 39 goals across 85 Championship appearances for Sunderland, more than any player involved in each of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, what price does that put on Clarke’s head?
“Every player has their own journey,” Speakman explained after the club rejected a reported £15m offer from Lazio for Clarke earlier this year. “I don't think there's ever a necessity to sell a player or for a player to move - it's just trying to find the right sweet spot for everybody.
“I don't think it's a situation where Jack would have to move in the summer, but eventually if you don't sign a new contract it starts to run down and eventually you're a free agent.
“I'm sure Jack doesn't want to go through that two-year period and neither do we, so it's just about discussing a contract, seeing where those parameters are at, and then seeing where the market is at with regards to what opportunities there may be for him to move on at some point.”
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So far this summer, Championship clubs have sanctioned a number of high-profile sales including Hull City’s sale of Jacob Greaves for a fee in the region of £18m, Leeds United’s sales of Archie Gray and Luis Sinisterra for over £50m combined and Hull’s Jaden Philogene on the brink of a return to Aston Villa for a reported fee in the region of £18m-£20m. By those figures, Sunderland are warranted in their hard bargaining with clubs over their key assets – and it’s something they will continue to do.
Beyond Clarke and Neil’s contracts expiring in 2026, Sunderland hold three-years on Ballard, Ekwah, Rigg and Hume, who has a fourth year option, and four-years on Patterson. It means they are in a strong position with all of their valuable assets heading into the new season and, as Speakman has reiterated, it means they are in no immediate rush to sell.
At some stage, however, the need to sell will more than likely come. A decision may have to be made on Clarke and Neil, for example, over the course of the next six months when factoring in the depreciating value from this point onwards as their contracts run down below two-years. The issue then becomes about reinvestment, where the task will be to supply Le Bris with the next crop of players such as Clarke and Ballard and Hume and Ekwah and Jobe in order to continue progressing the club.
What’s clear is Sunderland are skirting close to that point on the timeline, simply by virtue of the amount of interest they currently have in their players. It demonstrates the club have had plenty of success with their recruitment over the years, despite recent disappointing transfer windows, and they are shrewd when it comes to tying these players down.
It also highlights the impact of last season’s struggles that so many clubs feel now is the time to pounce on some of Sunderland’s young talent.
For Sunderland, it’s a constant game of chess which is played out behind the scenes as they move their pieces into position. But, you can’t keep them all. The nature of the beast dictates you will lose some of those pieces. Quite how many, though, will be up to the club, which isn’t the worst position to be in.
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