A former Sunderland player is enduring yet more injury woes as the 2024/25 campaign fast approaches.
Sunderland have certainly endured their share of injury troubles since their return to the Championship in 2022.
In both the 2022/23 and the 2023/24 seasons, Sunderland under their different managers seemed to have a lengthy injury list at all points of the season.
Current boss Regis Le Bris will hope to avoid that trend ahead of the 2024/25 Championship season.
And right now it looks like he has a largely clean bill of health with the likes of Abdoullah Ba and Simon Moore having returned in pre-season.
The likes of Jenson Seelt and Niall Huggins remain sidelined for longer period of times, but for Sunderland, this current injury list of quite short by their standards.
And since his Sunderland exit in September 2023, Ross Stewart has endured no-end of injury troubles with Southampton.
- READ MORE: Long-term Sunderland target could move this summer, Speakman would need to push the boat out
Ross Stewart injury nightmare at Southampton continues after Sunderland exit in 2023
Stewart left Sunderland in the summer of 2023, joining Southampton in a deal worth an initial £8million, with £4million potentially coming in add-ons.
But the Scot featured just four times for Southampton in the Championship last season, having featured only once in 2024.
He arrived at St Mary’s with a pre-existing injury, Stewart featured in a string of games in the November before suffering a hamstring injury which would rule him out until the Championship play-off final in May.
Stewart came off the bench as Southampton beat Leeds United at Wembley. But the 28-year-old is yet to feature in any of the Saints’ pre-season games, and wasn’t present with the first-team players at their ope training session on Thursday.
Could former Sunderland man Ross Stewart be available on loan this summer
Stewart is well down the pecking order at Southampton, who’ve signed Ben Brereton Diaz this summer.
There’s also the likes of Adam Armstrong, and the strong chance that Russell Martin further bolsters his front-line in the remainder of this summer’s transfer window.
And having no Premier League experience, and barely any match practise in the last year, a loan exit for Stewart could be inevitable this summer.
A return to Sunderland may also become something that gets talked about too; Stewart no doubt shone at Sunderland who remain in desperate need of a striker.
The question though would be whether Sunderland and Kristjaan Speakman can trust Stewart’s fitness record given the sheer amount of injuries he’s sustained in the last year.
Sunderland appear to have other targets in mind, with a permanent swoop looking more preferable.
But a loan return for Stewart may be something that picks up in the coming weeks.