Sunderland have confirmed that on loan midfielder Edouard Michut will be returning to parent club PSG this summer.
Sunderland signed Michut, 20, on a season-long loan from French giants PSG last summer. The central midfielder would go on to feature 25 times in the Championship, scoring once and becoming an increasingly important player for Tony Mowbray’s side as the season went on.
It’s long been reported that Sunderland had an option to buy Michut permanent from PSG – an option which was reported to stand at €2.5million. There’s been a bit of back and forth in the media as to whether or not Sunderland would trigger that option, but today the club has confirmed that Michut will be returning to PSG this summer.
Speaking to the club, Sporting Director Kirstjaan Speakman had this to say on Michut:
“Edouard played a prominent role throughout his loan spell at the Stadium of Light and we thank him for his contribution. He is highly respected by all at Sunderland AFC but following a period of dialogue with the player and his representatives, all parties mutually agreed it was best to pursue other opportunities at this moment in time. We have thoroughly enjoyed working with Edou and wish him well for the future.”
A poor decision?
There’ll be plenty of Sunderland fans out there who would’ve loved to see Michut stay at the club beyond this season. He really grew into the Championship and there’s definitely a bright future ahead for him, and at €2.5million it seemed like it’d be a very shrewd move for the Black Cats to make.
But they clearly have different plans. The summer ahead looks set to be a busy one for the club and Mowbray’s aims are clear – add more physicality to the side. Michut didn’t exactly add physicality to the side and so Mowbray might fancy replacing him with someone more robust.
Michut though will have learned a lot from his time on loan at the club and he’ll leave as a much better player because of it.
