Update on whether Sunderland are planning to sell several players

Sunderland aren’t expected to sell “numerous” players during the summer transfer window, according to the Sunderland Echo’s Phil Smith.

The Black Cats finished in sixth place at the end of the 2022/23 campaign and managed to secure their place in the play-offs with that, with back-to-back promotions looking like a genuine possibility.

Winning 2-1 against Luton Town in the first leg of the semis and making their home advantage count, they were tasked with retaining that lead at Kenilworth Road but were unable to do so in the end, with goals from Gabe Osho and Tom Lockyer allowing the Hatters to seal their place at Wembley.

Following that, the Wearside outfit are now looking ahead to another season in the Championship but it’s unclear who will still be at the Stadium of Light when the summer transfer window shuts, with several first-teamers likely to attract plenty of interest from elsewhere.

Who could leave Sunderland this summer?

Ross Stewart is one man who would have been on many Premier League sides’ radars this summer but his injury could potentially keep him at the Stadium of Light beyond then.

Alan Nixon believes Dan Neil and Patrick Roberts are two players that could potentially be on their way out along with Jack Clarke and Anthony Patterson.

Clarke is reportedly attracting interest from Brentford and Crystal Palace, whilst Patterson has caught the eye of Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Should Sunderland be concerned?

The one big positive is the fact only one player was released this summer and that was Carl Winchester, who was unlikely to play a big part for the Black Cats anyway.

With this, they have managed to retain stability at this stage and should continue to maintain that stability by keeping Tony Mowbray at the helm.

They should also only look to cash in one or two key players because that should increase their chances of being successful.

If they sold four or five key players instead, it may take their replacements quite a bit of time to adapt to life on Wearside and that’s why they should be looking to take a tough stance on some of their assets.

There are two reasons why the club shouldn’t be too concerned about interest in their players from other clubs though.

Firstly, they aren’t having to rebuild their squad so that should help them cope with potential departures reasonably well. And secondly, they have quite a few of their key assets tied down to long-term deals, so they are in a strong position at the negotiating table.