One Sunderland star looks set to really test the resolve of Kristjaan Speakman and the club ahead of the summer.
Sunderland‘s strategy is clear; buy young and cheap, sell for huge profits.
And they’re making good headway in that regard with players like Jack Clarke set to pocket the club a huge profit in the summer transfer window.
There’s plenty more in the same category; Pierre Ekwah and Dan Ballard to name a couple, with academy men Dan Neil and Anthony Patterson having cost the club nothing, but both now worth, arguably, £10million or more.
Sunderland showed last summer in particular that they don’t want players over a certain age, and again in January with the sale of Alex Pritchard.
But this strategy could be really put to the test this summer.
Sunderland lacking experience
Amid injuries to Clarke, Patrick Roberts and several others, and following the departures of names like Pritchard and last summer Danny Batth, it’s highlighted a distinct lack of experience in the team.
Experience during such a difficult run of form is vital but Sunderland and Mike Dodds simply don’t have that.
It looks like an area the club will try to address in the summer, and they may already have a solution in place.
Corry Evans makes Sunderland return with U21s
Club captain Corry Evans has recently made his return to action with the U21s.
He scored a ranged effort against Newcastle United’s U21s recently, then featuring again vs Leicester City and looking a ‘cut above the rest’.
The 66-cap Northern Ireland international has missed more than 12 months of action with a major knee injury and sees his contract expire in the summer.
And whilst it looks inevitable he’ll leave, he may quickly give the club a difficult decision to make.
Kristjaan Speakman may have to break the mould for Sunderland
If Evans was 10 years younger, he’d undoubtedly be in Sunderland thinking for a new deal.
But at 33, he’s the oldest player in the first-team and usually, and Sunderland wouldn’t think twice about letting him go, no matter how good he is.
And the fact that he’s recovering from a long-term injury won’t help his cause either.
But this lack of experience in the team combined with a long-term need for a holding midfielder who can tackle and provide cover, could yet mean that there’s a chance Evans stays.
First and foremost he needs to make his first-team return. But his recent cameos for the U21s suggest that he’s well on that path and that he remains a player with huge ability.
With Sunderland needing to make some adjustment to their strategy following this calamitous run of form, Evans could well be someone who really puts Speakman and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus to the test, and put himself forward for a new deal.