Sunderland manager Lee Johnson has been discussing the summer ahead at the Stadium of Light, in which he expects contract talks to be ‘extended out’.
Sunderland face a more precarious summer than most. Johnson spoke to Sunderland Echo about player contracts recently, where he explained how the club’s promotion bid combined with the financial difficulties of this season will inevitably make contract talks more complex.
It comes after Jack Diamond recently penned a new long-term contract at the club. There’s likely to be more to follow but Johnson has set the tone with Diamond’s new Sunderland deal, which keeps him at the club until 2024.
The academy graduate has worked his way through the ranks to become a first-team regular this season. He’s shown enough in his 18 League One appearances to merit a new deal – to which Johnson sees a much bigger picture:
You look all the way through the academy and there’s a value to that succession planning. There’s a value in terms of the monetary value, but the bigger value is obviously to the club and the team.
If they do that enough, the club then have options because then you get interested parties and big sums involved. I’ve seen that obviously first-hand with over £100 million of sales in my tenure at Bristol City.
Last season, Bristol City received nearly £50million in player sales alone, allowing them to go on a £32million spending spree throughout the campaign.
Whether that money was well spent or not is another argument. But Johnson has proved – and recently so – that he’s a manager with a keen eye for financial building.
It’s another factor that adds to the positivity currently circulating Sunderland, who host Oxford United in League One tomorrow.
