Sunderland are set to announce their retained list any day now, with the club gearing up for a busy summer following their promotion to the Championship.
Sunderland beat Wycombe Wanderers in the League One play-off final last weekend, securing their return to the second tier of English football.
Manager Alex Neil has done a tremendous job since taking over and he’ll be gunning to return to the Championship, but he’ll know that his side needs bolstering if they’re to re-establish themselves in the second tier.
Fans will be hoping to see some fresh faces come through the door this summer. Having his say on Sunderland’s transfer plans and their situation after securing promotion, The Sun’s Alan Nixon had this to say:
Need to sort out the out of contracts and poss loans turning into full time signings first … https://t.co/HdNMB8EVVh
— Alan Nixon (@reluctantnicko) May 24, 2022
Sunderland have some key players out of contract this summer, including Bailey Wright, Lynden Gooch and Patrick Roberts.
Nixon revealed via his Patreon account yesterday that the club are set to release Aiden McGeady, Arbenit Xhemajli, Lee Burge and Jordan Willis.
Neil also has a lot of player on loan at the club, with some of them having been key players in the likes of Jack Clarke and Callum Doyle.
What next?
Like Nixon says, Sunderland have a few things to attend to before they can think about new signings. Fans may be excited to hear Nixon talk about the possibility of signing loan players, which could hint at Sunderland being keen on the likes of Clarke and Doyle once again this summer.
The likes of Wright and Gooch could be useful players next season and new deals for them wouldn’t be surprising, though Gooch has interest from Portsmouth at the moment.
And Roberts is another who’s expected to re-sign for the club after impressing in the second half of the season.
There’s a lot going on at Sunderland at the moment, but the club has a Championship season to look forward to after an arduous spell in League One.
