Elliot Embleton finally looks set to leave Sunderland after a decade with the club.
The midfielder made his senior debut for Sunderland in 2017 and looked to have a huge future ahead of him, finally pushing his way into the starting line-up after winning promotion on loan at Blackpool.
Embleton went onto bag 17 goal contributions in all competitions as the Black Cats returned to the Championship, but his form dipped off following their play-off promotion.
The 25-year-old netted twice in the opening 23 matches, before suffering ankle ligament damage that kept him out for nine months.
He managed less than an hour of his loan spell at Derby County before picking up a thigh injury and has only recently returned to action.
Embleton’s time on the sidelines has made it highly unlikely that he would force his way back into the team, so it came as no surprise when a number of EFL clubs were interested in him.
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Embleton set for permanent move to League One
It was reported yesterday that Embleton had already undergone a medical at Blackpool, where he spent the second half of the 2020-21 campaign.
It has since been claimed that the former England U20 international will leave the Stadium of Light permanently, with Roker Report writing on X: “Two year deal – not sure on fee.”
Embleton will leave Sunderland with one year left on his contract, which would have been very unlikely to be extended.
The Sunderland midfielder isn’t cut out for the Championship
The Black Cats academy product looked to have bags of potential when playing in League One, but it always seemed like he had struggled to make the step up to the Championship.
He is clearly a very good player at that level, but the quality in Sunderland’s squad has drastically improved since he was first sidelined.
There is no chance he was getting in over the likes of Dan Neil and Jobe Bellingham, while he would have rarely got on from the bench either.
If he had longer left on his contract then there may have been the argument to give him another chance, but Sunderland are making the right decision in raking in a small profit rather than losing him for free next summer.
Given how important he was in League One – especially his goal in the play-off final – it will be a real shame to see him leave. His exit will mean only Anthony Patterson, Dennis Cirkin, Luke O’Nien and Patrick Roberts are left from the starting line-up that beat Wycombe Wanderers.
Embleton will definitely help the Seasiders with their play-off push next season, while it would be interesting to see how he could perform for them if they did reach the Championship.