One Sunderland loanee is currently thriving during his first loan spell away from the club.
The Black Cats’ brilliant start to the season has been characterised by the brilliant strides made up to this point by their younger ranks in the side.
Whilst the defeat at the hands of Watford was certainly an anomaly, which saw Dan Neil give away a flimsy penalty, which decided the game, whilst Jobe Bellingham also looked to be off the pace, the midfield have been incredible at most times.
17-year-old midfielder Chris Rigg has characterised the incredible improvement in the side, as shown by him already being an indispensable player at such a young age for Sunderland.
It is clear that Kristjaan Speakman’s long term plan of bringing in and prioritising the development of youth players is now paying dividends, and there is another midfielder in the works that could make a significant difference for Regis Le Bris’ side as early as next season after what has been a brilliant start ot the 2024/25 campaign for him whilst out on loan.
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Sunderland loanee Nectar Triantis impresses in alternative position for Hibernian
Sunderland decided to loan out young defender Nectar Triantis after Le Bris decided that he wanted to cut the size of his squad, which meant that the Australian 21-year-old didn’t quite make the cut.
He has however thrived up until this point in the Scottish Premiership with Hibernian, where he has been played in an unfamiliar centre-midfield position.
The now midfielder for the Scottish-based outfit was always utilised at centre-back whilst plying his trade with the Sunderland U21’s, however a change of position appears to have benefitted the youngster, who has started three games in a row, picking up four points for his side and has been described as ‘intelligent’, per The Scotsman.
Per Sofascore, Triantis has made a difference in terms of playmaking with a 76% passing accuracy, however his qualities still lie in his defensive side with him getting one clean sheet, whilst also recovering an average of 5.7 balls per game, as well as making 3.3 tackles per match.
Sunderland youth system continues to benefit club in long term
In the early years of Kyril Louis-Dreyus and Speakman’s reign, there was plenty of uncertainty over whether the prioritisation of bringing in younger players who didn’t look to be up to scratch for the second tier was really worth it.
It certainly didn’t pay off in the 2023/24 Championship campaign as Sunderland finished in a disappointing 16th place, which accumulated as a result of the lack of experience within their ranks.
However, now they have brought in Le Bris, the younger set of players are truly living up to their potential, and Triantis is a perfect example of a player who struggled to break past youth football last season, barring a few substitute appearances for the first time, but he now sees himself playing in the centre-of-the-park at the Ibrox against Rangers.