Former Sunderland man Joel Asoro has endured a difficult career since leaving Wearside.
Sunderland have had to endure many difficulties in recent times, notably starting from the 2016/17 Premier League relegation season.
The Championship campaign that followed was disastrous on all accounts, with the Black Cats suffering a double relegation to send them down to League One.
One man that played a part in the tricky 2017/18 season was Swedish youngster Joel Asoro, who emerged from playing with the academy side to being Sunderland’s main focal point up top, particularly after Lewis Grabban moved on to Aston Villa in January.
The young star was one of the few shining lights in an uninspiring Sunderland side, and his three-goal campaign earned him a move to Swansea City.
However, five teams and seven seasons later, it is clear that Asoro hasn’t quite managed to hit the heights he was capable of after what he showed at Sunderland.
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Former Sunderland youngster Joel Asoro struggling for Ligue 2 game time despite positive Swedish spell
After he moved on from Sunderland to Swansea City, with the Black Cats receiving a seven-figure fee in return, his time in South Wales was predominantly unsuccessful, being unable to notch a single goal for the Swans in all competitions.
Amid his short-lived Swansea spell, he moved to Dutch side FC Groningen on loan, followed up by a temporary term at Genoa in Italy before moving to Sweden to sign for Djurgardens.
His time in Sweden proved to be mostly successful, notching 21 goals and 13 assists in 96 appearances for the side. During his time at Djurgardens, he was finally handed his highly-anticipated Sweden debut, bagging a goal on his debut for his national side.
Unfortunately for Asoro, following that positive stint in his home country, he moved to Ligue 1 side FC Metz, scoring just two in 18 games. Currently, they now find themselves in the higher echelons of Ligue 2, but Asoro has played a fairly limited role for the side, having notched less than 300 minutes of action in the league this season.
Joel Asoro could have endured successful Wearside spell if not for Black Cats relegation
During his time at Sunderland, Asoro showed plenty of signs of promise, scoring some top goals, and looked destined to be a top player. being regarded as a ‘good prospect’, per Michael Graham on X.
The fact that he was handed his debut in 2016/17 as just a 17-year-old just shows how highly thought of he was during his time on Wearside, and it begs the question that, if Sunderland didn’t suffer relegation in the 2017/18 campaign, he may very well have stayed on and not had his development hampered.
Asoro will always be a ‘what if?’ player because of his career, and the promise he had at such a young age. Unfortunately, the Sunderland relegation meant that he moved on too soon, and the expectation that he arrived at Swansea with was unfortunately crucial in him struggling in pastures new.