The topic of Alex Pritchard has been quite prevalent in recent weeks at the Stadium of Light, particularly since Michael Beale’s appointment as Sunderland’s new head coach in December.
Beale has had to negotiate a number of obstacles throughout his brief tenure to date, both on and off the field, with Pritchard’s contract situation, albeit outside of his remit, added to those troubles.
The midfielder entered the final six months of his deal on Wearside at the turn of the year and now looks set to bring an end to his two-and-a-half-year stay in the North East following the bombshell news which dropped ahead of the club’s Championship fixture with Stoke City. With less than 10 minutes until team news landed at the Stadium of Light, the club addressed supporters with a statement regarding the 30-year-old midfielder, who had expressed a desire to leave the club 24-hours earlier and subsequently withdrew himself from selection for Beale to face Stoke.
"On Friday morning, Alex Pritchard informed the club that he was no longer available for selection and he subsequently withdrew from today’s matchday squad,” the statement read.
"The midfielder also expressed his desire to leave SAFC with immediate effect. The club will be making no further comment at this moment in time."
In a week where Beale had found himself under huge pressure to deliver a result, with supporters showing their frustration towards the head coach throughout a fractious honeymoon period, not being able to pick one of his best performers in recent weeks provided a considerable headache. Fortunately for Beale, Pritchard's absence did not impact what turned out to be Sunderland’s best display under their new head coach, as they ran out 3-1 winners over Stoke in a performance that was much more balanced and free-flowing, unlike the disappointing defeat to Hull City eight days previous.
But where does Pritchard’s decision to withdraw himself from selection leave things regarding the midfielder’s future? We Are Sunderland takes a closer look at Pritchard’s contract stand-off and what Sunderland will be missing should he leave the club.
Pritchard hits contract impasse
The announcement of Pritchard’s contract dispute was cause for further anger and concern among supporters after what has been a trying number of months at the Stadium of Light. But not only was their frustration from supporters, those emotions were mirrored between both parties around the negotiating table – a situation which has been simmering since the summer.
Although there have been tensions between both camps, when Sunderland’s sporting director Kristjaan Speakman confirmed 48-hours prior to the Championship fixture with Stoke that a contract extension had been offered to Pritchard, there may have been slight hope things had progressed.
“From my perspective, Alex has been an absolutely integral part of getting us to where we are in the Championship, in a really good position,” Speakman explained.
“He’s a really important player for the group and I’m really pleased that he’s got back in the team.
“His contract is up at the end of the season. With every player, there’s questions about whether they will be staying or going in every window because we’ve got top players. From Alex’s perspective, we’ve made the decision more recently to offer him an extension to his contract.
“We wouldn’t normally do that because we’d normally do that as part of our succession planning somewhere around March or April time. But we just felt that in conversations with him, that was something we probably needed to do because of the situation and where his head was at more than anything.
“I think that’s the right thing for the football club to do, and he is in a really good position. He’s in the team, and I’m sure he’s happy.”
Speakman’s claims have been supported by Beale, who has been consistent with his message regarding Pritchard throughout the course of the last month in that he is a player he would like to keep but the decision, ultimately, is not made by the head coach.
“Those things are always going on in the background and when there’s a change in manager there’s always a period where people want to see how the new relationships form,” said Beale.
“Alex is someone that we’ve had people in our past who we’ve both worked with, him as a coach and me as a colleague, so I was well versed on Alex coming in. I’ve followed his career from when he was with Tottenham.
“He’s someone that gets playing for our club. He’s been there in the promotion season and since I’ve been in, he missed the first couple of games with illness, he was excellent when he came on at Rotherham, he scored a fantastic goal against Preston and he was the most likely for us against Newcastle - he was unlucky with a couple of really good efforts.
“He’s super important to us and those things will go on in the background. He’s a player that gives us belief and quality. I think he’s somebody who makes our team better. He’s not the only one, but he’s one of the ones who makes our team better and that little bit more experience, understanding and knowhow is really important. I’ve been absolutely delighted with Alex since I’ve been here.”
Beale added: “All of the decisions are club decisions but at this moment in time I think Pritch is playing well, he’s in the team, he’s happy with me and I’m happy with him. We’re in January, May is a long time away. Anything can happen, but at this moment in time the club have asked me to get my eyes on all the players and give feedback on what I think.”
The suggestion of Pritchard’s happiness has been misplaced, however, despite his recent run in the team where he has provided a goal and three assists in his last nine appearances.
It’s a deadlock which has been in place since the summer at the Stadium of Light, where it’s understood that Pritchard was keen to cement his longer-term future having presented himself as a key player during his first two seasons with the club – Pritchard having made 40 appearances in all competitions last season, ending the campaign with four goals and six assists.
It’s believed that Pritchard wanted security as far as the length of contract was concerned but Sunderland, who have a structure in place to acquire and develop younger players, were reluctant to commit at that stage – instead keen to assess the situation as the season progressed.
Pritchard is thought to have felt undervalued and, at that point, was happy to look for a move elsewhere where he felt he could find that longer-term security as Sunderland, and Speakman, began their succession planning with the arrival of Jobe Bellingham as well as the addition of Bradley Dack at the request of former head coach Tony Mowbray after the pair had worked together at Ewood Park. The club also brought in Frenchman Adil Aouchiche as another player with a high potential which allowed them to feel more comfortable with a potential Pritchard exit.
Mowbray had hinted Pritchard was likely to leave the Stadium of Light by the close of the summer transfer window but a deal for the former Norwich City and Huddersfield Town playmaker did not materialise as Pritchard remained on Wearside.
Rather than cause unrest, Pritchard got on with the start of the season with Sunderland where he continued to be in and out of Mowbray’s side throughout the opening months of the campaign. Towards the end of Mowbray’s tenure, Pritchard’s impact from the bench was becoming more and more noticeable before making a significant impression as a substitute under interim boss Mike Dodds in December’s win over West Bromwich Albion with two assists.
Since then, Pritchard has established himself as a key player for Sunderland over what has been a turbulent period for the club off the field. Pritchard’s form was timely in terms of strengthening his negotiating hand ahead of the January transfer window, with a longer-term contract still the desire if he were to remain with the club.
Sunderland are understood to have offered a one-year extension to Pritchard’s contract earlier this month on similar terms with a view to, potentially, extending that deal by an additional year further down the line. That, again, is believed to have left Pritchard feeling undervalued and underappreciated by the club as frustrations have elevated in recent weeks.
Speculation on Pritchard’s future has seen the 30-year-old linked with a move away this month with interest both domestically, including linking up with former boss Mowbray at Birmingham City, and abroad, including Turkish Super Lig side Sivasspor. Mowbray, however, kept his cards close to his chest when asked about a reunion with Pritchard over the weekend.
"Let Sunderland get on with their business and wait and see what happens in the next five days," he said after Birmingham's defeat to Leicester City in the FA Cup.
"What I do know is Alex Pritchard is a player with personality and character, wonderful ball manipulation and great dead ball skills. We will wait and see how it develops. He is not our player, he is somebody I shouldn’t be talking about I suppose, but we will see how things develop over the next four or five days.”
Club sources have, however, suggested that no official bids have been made for the midfielder, despite suggestions otherwise. With Pritchard now into the final six months of his deal with Sunderland he is eligible to negotiate a pre-contract in a different league, with the added incentive of a signing-on bonus, but Sunderland remain unmoved unless they receive an official approach for the player.
It led to what transpired ahead of Sunderland’s Championship fixture with Stoke whereby Pritchard withdrew his availability for Beale’s squad – a move which is understood to have angered the club before they made the decision to update supporters on the situation.
Pritchard was involved in an unceremonious exit from Huddersfield in the summer of 2021 prior to joining Sunderland after he hit back at former owner Dean Hoyle who said the club “overpaid” for the midfielder. Pritchard cost the Terriers a reported £11million from Norwich but endured a frustrating three-year spell at the John Smith’s Stadium.
"David Wagner wanted a number 10 and he was obsessed by Alex Pritchard,” Hoyle was quoted via the Looks Good On Paper podcast.
“He said 'that's the man.' Two things; first, I had to go back to Stuart Webber to negotiate. That wasn't easy, but all good fun.
"Secondly, personally, we overpaid. We overpaid for the football club. We overpaid for the player and we went over budget by £11m. But we survived. I don't think Alex made us survive, but I really wanted to support David.”
Pritchard responded to those claims from Hoyle in an interview with The Athletic whereby he defended his time in West Yorkshire.
“I’d never had that situation where I didn’t play,” he said. “Conversations about why; they help you understand it and know what you’ve got to do to get back in, but I never really had those conversations.
“I didn’t have the season I wanted, but did I really get the chance to show what I was about? Probably not. Did I cut it? Probably not. And when people say, ‘You’re injury-prone’… I wasn’t. I was fit.
“You all move on, but I’ve seen things like someone saying, ‘We overpaid for Pritchard’. Okay, that’s not my problem. That was what you did.
“I came in the January; you ended up staying in the league and you earned whatever you earned [from being a Premier League club again]. I bet you didn’t say anything about how much I cost then.
“After you’ve stayed up, did you invest enough? I don’t know. That’s just opinions but, because it didn’t work out, why did you have to say you overpaid?”
Pritchard’s decision to withdraw from Sunderland’s squad has split supporters’ opinions but it now seems unlikely the 30-year-old will feature for the club again with no indications of the issue being resolved in the coming days with head coach Beale suggesting things ‘mentally just got too much for him,’ when quizzed over Pritchard’s decision.
Given Pritchard’s impact in recent months, Sunderland are likely to want a replacement for the midfielder rather than allowing him to leave without a fee this month with Dack having struggled for form and fitness during his time on Wearside and Aouchiche still very much in his acclimatising phase in the North East.
When asked about whether they will search for a replacement ahead of the transfer deadline, Sunderland’s head coach, Beale, insisted the club are always keen to strengthen the squad.
“We’ve always been looking to strengthen anyway,” he told We Are Sunderland. “I think with the injuries we’ve got at the moment, and the players we’ve allowed to go on loan in the last couple of days, numbers are really light and [against Stoke] you could see that.
“In terms of the Pritchard one; what I would say is it’s not been that difficult because I came into the situation knowing a player was out of contract in the summer and I knew at some point him and the club would have a conversation and then whatever happens after that it’s out of your hands a little bit.
“He’s been really honest, we’ve been really honest in return. I lose a player who has been in the team but that gives an opportunity to one or two others and Mason [Burstow] and Abdoullah Ba took that.
“I reiterate; it’s a wonderful club to play for – you think of the expectation, the facilities that we have, the fans we have that come home and away to support us. There’s a lot to love about playing for this club and it’s important we keep the focus on the boys that were out there running around for the club today.”
It leaves Sunderland in a difficult situation whereby a player is unlikely to play for the club again whilst running down the final six months of his contract, meaning if a move doesn't transpire in the next few days there are no real winners.
The void now left behind by Pritchard
So where does Pritchard’s situation leave Sunderland? Beale's post-match comments suggest the club could add to their attacking midfield ranks before the window closes on February 1 given the inconsistencies of both Dack and Aouchiche.
Dack has made just 12 appearances since arriving from Ewood Park in the summer with one goal and one assist to his name. Aouchiche, who signed a five-year contract at the Stadium of Light in the summer from Ligue 1 side Lorient for an undisclosed fee, has one goal and one assist in 17 appearances, while Jobe has four goals and one assist in the Championship this season in 28 outings.
In contrast, Pritchard leads the way with goal contributions in that area of the field with one goal and five assists from 23 appearances. If the 30-year-old is to leave the Stadium of Light in the coming days, there'll be a clear creative void left behind.
We Are Sunderland has delved deeper into Pritchard's Wyscout player report to see just what Sunderland will be missing in his absence.
Over the last five games, it's perhaps not surprising to see Jack Clarke come out on top in terms of key passes since the 1-1 with Rotherham United, given how important he's been to the Black Cats. But Pritchard remains just as important in the final third, coming in second place with five key passes in 402 minutes of action.
His display off the bench at the New York Stadium was the first after returning from illness, helping swing the balance of the game in Sunderland's favour as it was his initial cross which led to Sunderland’s equaliser. It was in the build-up to that game Beale had asked his players to be less picky in the final third and take more shots in general, but also from outside the area - Clarke popping up on that occasion with an equaliser with a deflected effort from outside the box.
But there are plenty of examples of Pritchard’s final third instincts, even on occasions that do not yield goals for Sunderland. In the image below during Sunderland’s 3-1 at Queens Park Rangers earlier this season, you can see the space Pritchard has picked up on the edge of the area and he has the ability to hang a cross onto the head of Luis Hemir in that corridor of uncertainty for a goalkeeper.
Hemir did not capitalise on the opportunity but it was a fine example of Pritchard’s ability in the final third.
Another example this season can be seen below in the League Cup tie with Crewe Alexandra. Pritchard picks up a pocket of space between the lines from Pierre Ekwah’s pass before turning and clipping an excellent chipped ball into the path of Dack who can’t finish. It’s the kind of threat in the centre of the field Sunderland have lacked at times this season with much of their attacking output going down either wing.
When it comes to shots, Pritchard has risen to that challenge in recent games and registered the most efforts on goal with 12 in the five games analysed against Rotherham, Preston North End, Newcastle United, Ipswich Town and Hull.
He ranks third in terms of xG, with an average of 0.43, behind Clarke's 0.66 and Nazariy Rusyn's 0.82. Both Clarke and Rusyn are more accurate with 50 per cent of their efforts on target, while Pritchard has managed just 33.3 per cent.
Pritchard’s goal against Preston is the best example of his spark in the No.10 position as he finds a pocket of space for Ekwah to cleverly thread a ball between Preston’s midfield third. Pritchard is able to turn and drive towards goal and has no hesitation in taking aim at goal, delivering a fantastic strike to score his first goal of the season. It was another example of what Sunderland have missed at times where there has been a tendency to overplay around the edge of the area.
This won’t come as a surprise to those who have watched Pritchard in the flesh, but he comes out on top in terms of through passes of those who have played over 400 minutes of action in the past five games he has been involved in, with an average of 1.8 per game and 50 per cent accuracy.
It's interesting to see Aouchiche rank so highly, despite having played just 79 minutes, which suggest there is potential in him being the ideal long-term replacement should Pritchard leave.
Pritchard’s guile is what enables him to produce those key through passes as can be seen below from earlier in the season when showing for Clarke on the edge of the area in the goalless draw with Coventry City. Pritchard’s positioning, and knowhow, allows him to receive the ball from Clarke and guide it first-time into the path of Dan Neil who is just crowded out. It was another nearly moment but demonstrated the kind of threat Pritchard can bring.
Arguably, Pritchard’s best display this season came in the cameo against West Brom where he provided two assists from the bench as Sunderland claimed a 2-1 win. The second of those assists saw Pritchard manufacture an excellent ball with the outside of his foot into the path of Neil between two defenders which allowed the midfielder to race on and score the decisive second goal in the game.
But when it comes to key through passes and assists, you will do well to find a better one than Pritchard’s involvement for Ellis Simms’ second goal against Bristol City last season.
Sunderland, upon their return to the Championship, were not afraid to play expansive, free-flowing football under Alex Neil with this particular strike at Ashton Gate a highlight.
As Neil flicked a ball into the path of Ross Stewart, his first-time reverse pass found Pritchard just inside the Bristol half and the midfielder curled a delightful, inch-perfect pass into the path of Simms in behind Zak Vyner in defence and the Everton loanee was able to add his second of the game.
Pritchard wasn’t done there, however, as, similar to the position we saw earlier from this season against Qpr, Pritchard added a second assist to his name at Ashton Gate with an excellent cross onto the head of Stewart.
A closer look at ball possession losses shows Sunderland, on the whole, lose the ball less than the average team in the Championship, with Pritchard playing a big part in ball retention. Over the course of the last five games, Pritchard lost the ball just 9.4 times per 90 minutes on average, putting him among Sunderland's best at keeping the ball.
Frenchman, Aouchiche, still has work to do in that regard ranking among the worst but his average will be impacted by his lack of minutes.
In terms of set pieces, Sunderland would need to find both a new corner taker and a new free kick taker if Pritchard is to leave. Clarke has taken corners in the absence of Pritchard in the past, but free kick’s remain open for debate.
Interestingly, set pieces haven't been a strength of Sunderland over the past five games, with Pritchard registering an xG of just 0.04 from free kicks. Corners have also been particularly poor in terms of goal scoring opportunities - Dan Ballard registering an xG of 0.18 with Luke O'Nien coming in second with only 0.03.
Pritchard has, however, displayed his credentials from dead-ball situations in the past with two of his five assists this season coming from set pieces. The midfielder picked out Ballard in the win over West Brom from a fine free kick whipped in towards the near post, having targeted his same centre-back from a corner in the 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday back in September.
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Although perhaps not his most cultured assist, Pritchard’s biggest for Sunderland came in the 2022 play-off final against Wycombe Wanderers where his drift in-field after exchanging with Patrick Roberts on the wing drew as many as four in blue shirts towards him before picking out Stewart on the edge of the area.
Pritchard’s run had allowed Stewart to find himself in a one-against-one scenario where he stood off his man to shift the ball onto his right foot and fire Sunderland to promotion back to the Championship.
The stats show just how big a miss Pritchard will be to Sunderland should he go on to leave the club before the end of the January transfer window. The midfielder has played a key role over the past two-and-a-half-years in their ascend back towards the top end of the Championship table from the depths of League One.
But it’s also worth bearing in mind just how impressive the Black Cats were against Stoke, with Abdoullah Ba starting to find his feet and Jobe given license to roam. Sunderland scored three goals in a game for the first time since November, a stat made more impressive given they had scored just five in their previous five games under Beale.
Players come and go but losing a player of Pritchard’s experience and forward-thinking prowess without a replacement, given the current injury situation at the club, would leave Beale short on options in creativity in the final third.
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