Sunderland fans have a new favourite in Chris Mepham. But as ever, they’re trying not to fall too in love with a loan player.
The last loan man who Sunderland fans fell in love with was Amad Diallo, and Manchester United eventually broke fans’ hearts by never choosing to send him back to the Stadium of Light.
There was constant links, though the move obviously never materialised. Now it’s Bournemouth’s Chris Mepham who’s winning over fans with his commanding performances in defence.
Sunderland beat Luton Town 2-1 in midweek and SAFC Live pundit Danny Collins named Mepham as his Man of the Match that night.
Collins also named Mepham as his Man of the Match for the previous win against Hull City, with the 26-year-old having now featured seven times in the Championship for Sunderland, following the injury to Dan Ballard.
Earlier this month, Michael Graham rated Sunderland’s chances of signing Mepham permanently, with a possible move seemingly up in the air given his contract situation.
Do Bournemouth have a recall clause in Chris Mepham’s Sunderland loan deal?
Sunderland signed Mepham on a season-long loan deal during the summer, bringing him in following the injury to Aji Alese.
Mepham’s fine form has obviously gotten some Sunderland fans fearing a potential January recall.
Quizzed on whether Bournemouth have the option to recall Mepham in January, journalist Phil Smith said on On The Whistle this week: “I don’t know this for sure.
“But what I would say is that I would suggest it’s highly likely. It would be highly irregular for a season-long loan deal to be done without a January recall; pretty much every club does it now.”
Smith went on to say: “I would be stunned if there wasn’t a recall clause.
“But I wouldn’t be too concerned at the moment because ultimately, Mepham’s playing regularly, he’s playing well, and he’s building his value to Bournemouth.”
Chris Mepham’s Bournemouth contract
Mepham is out of contract at Bournemouth at the end of this season, following his reported £12million move from Brentford in January 2019.
The Cherries have the option to extend Mepham’s deal by an extra year which, if he continues to perform well for Sunderland, they’ll no doubt trigger.
Bournemouth’s centre-back situation and season so far
Right now, Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth sit in 11th place of the Premier League table and have an eight-point cushion to the bottom three.
The Cherries are once again doing well. They also boast a fairly decent defensive record compared to many in the bottom half, having conceded 11 goals in eight games so far.
Iraola plays a back-four and for their last game against Arsenal, Ilya Zabarnyi and Marcos Senesi started in the middle, with Dean Huijsen and youngster James Hill the back-up options.
Four centre-backs is not a lot. An injury to one of them would leave Iraola light in that position and so in that sense, a Mepham recall in January certainly seems a possibility.
Like Smith says, though, Mepham is gaining value with his strong performances for Sunderland right now, and the January transfer window remains a couple of months away yet.