Sunderland have gone quiet on the transfer front since signing Ian Poveda last week.
The Black Cats had looked to be on the verge of snapping up Alexandre Mendy to solve their striker problem, but it appears that reports of his arrival on Wearside were far off.
Sunderland haven’t offloaded any further players either, which is good news regarding the likes of Trai Hume and Jack Clarke.
However, it is expected that they will look to loan out a number of players who are unlikely to pick up regular game-time next season.
The arrival of Alan Browne and returns from injury for Jay Matete and Elliot Embleton means competition is very high in the middle of the park.
With one year left on his contract, it was expected that the latter could make way after struggling with injuries over the last couple of seasons.
Championship rivals aren’t interested in Elliot Embleton
It was reported this week that both Derby County and Blackpool are interested in signing Embleton on loan, with the 25-year-old having spent time with both clubs.
It was believed that the Rams could make a second attempt at signing him, after his initial loan spell came to an abrupt end when he was sidelined for the season.
However, Derbyshire Live have shut down rumours of the club’s interest in Embleton.
They have reported that Derby are ‘not in the running’ to sign the Sunderland academy product and are instead looking for a creative midfielder.
That could pave the way for Blackpool to snap him up, with Embleton becoming a fan favourite when he helped them win promotion to the Championship in the 2020-21 season.
Why aren’t Sunderland selling Embleton?
While Embleton’s career has understandably been hampered by injuries, it seems unlikely that he would be one of the Black Cats’ key players by now if he had been available this whole time.
The ‘excellent‘ star is clearly an incredible League One player, having won back-to-back promotions.
However, he was far from impressive before picking up his first injury and really didn’t look the same player in the Championship.
He definitely belongs in League One or further down the Championship, but sending him out on loan there doesn’t really make much sense.
Embleton is out of contract next summer and will likely leave for a free if Sunderland don’t sell him now.
They won’t receive much of a fee given his injury record, but it seems more beneficial than loaning him out, then releasing him anyway.