Sunderland could still send one of two players out on loan before tonight’s deadline.
Sunderland have already sent Nectarios Triantis, Jay Matete and Jewison Bennette out on loan to pick up some more game time, and it appears that they may still wave a temporary goodbye to further players.
While the Black Cats look to have failed in their pursuit of a striker, they still have two youngsters in the squad who don’t look to be getting minutes under Michael Beale.
Nazariy Rusyn and Mason Burstow appear to have been the manager’s preferred option up top so far, while Luis Hemir Semedo and Eliezer Mayenda have really struggled to earn themselves a place in the team as of late.
Sunderland Echo reported this morning that the club could sanction a loan exit for Hemir today if they were able to bring a striker in, however journalist Phil Smith has now reported that they may still let one of Hemir or Mayenda leave before the deadline.
Writing for the Echo, Smith said: “The imminent arrival of Styles will likely lead to Jay Matete heading elsewhere on a short-term basis as he bids to rebuild his match fitness following a serious injury.
“There has also been loan interest in Luis Hemir and Eliezer Mayenda, and Sunderland could sanction one of them heading out for the rest of the campaign for regular game time.”
Should we sent one of our struggling strikers out?
Ideally, both players could go out on loan as neither are likely to make an impact on the first team this term. This could have been a possibility if we had brought in a replacement, but the lack of squad depth makes it difficult.
One of them definitely needs to take up the chance to get more game time though, while the other is likely to feature heavily for the U21s and hopefully adapt to English football further ahead of next season.
It has been a tough campaign for our young forwards, but hopefully another pre-season will do them good.