Sunderland are aiming to return to the Premier League this season, and one of the many benefits of a return to the top flight would be the return of the Tyne-Wear derby.
Sunderland are steadily building towards a return to the Premier League, coming up to eight years after they were relegated from the English top flight.
Regis Le Bris is the man in charge. His side have been in mixed form of late suffering back-to-back league defeats for the first time this season, before then returning to winning ways with a 2-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday.
Now, the Black Cats find themselves in 4th place of the Championship table with 11 games left to secure themselves a spot in the top two or the top six of the league.
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus will be rubbing his hands if Sunderland return to the Premier League. But it’d be a much bigger deal for the fans who’ve been through a lot in the the last several years.
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How Simon Mignolet denied Newcastle United stunning £29m signing
Sunderland returning to the top flight would see the return of the Tyne-Wear derby. Sunderland played Newcastle United in the FA Cup last season but the last time they played each other in the league was way back in 2016.
The two teams boast one of the fiercest rivalries in all of English football, so much so that players often go out of their way to get one over the other team. Or at least so it seems.
In 2022, former Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet put off then Newcastle United target Charles De Ketelaere who eventually moved to AC Milan in a £29million deal.
De Ketelaere revealed at the time: “Mignolet once told me that there’s not much to do in Newcastle. And that in winter, it’s dark as early as four o’clock.”
Just a few years earlier, Mignolet helped convinced Laurens De Bock to move to the Stadium of Light, which he did in 2019. De Bock revealed: “I spoke to Simon Mignolet because we have the same agent and he convinced me a little bit about Sunderland.
“He told me the atmosphere at the club was good and it was a big club so it was a good opportunity for me.”
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What is former Sunderland man Simon Mignolet up to these days?
Former Sunderland and Liverpool shot-stopper Mignolet actually turned 37 years old on Thursday March 3rd. The 35-cap Belgian international now plays for Club Brugge.
He’s been with the club since 2019 and is approaching his 300th appearance for the Belgian outfit, having played against Aston Villa in the Champions League a few days before his 37th birthday.
With Sunderland, Mignolet made 101 appearances and kept 33 clean sheets between 2010 and 2013, eventually joining Liverpool in a £9million deal from Sunderland.