Sunderland would be loathe to lose any of their key players during the January transfer window, and certainly not to a direct rival for promotion out of the Championship.
While the Black Cats continue to set the pace at the top of the table, the gap between Sunderland and Leeds United now stands at just two points after Regis Le Bris’s side threw away a lead against Coventry City on Saturday afternoon.
Former boss Gus Poyet believes surviving the January window is key for the Wearsiders’ hopes of securing a long-awaited return to the Premier League.
Though that could be easier said than done.
Especially if Manchester United or Borussia Dortmund opt to test Chris Rigg’s resolve in the New Year. Or should top-flight interest arise in, say, Jobe Bellingham.
The Mirror report that left-back Dennis Cirkin is a target for Championship rivals Leeds, meanwhile.
But while Cirkin’s contract situation is a cause for concern – he will have just one year left on his deal from next summer onwards – former England international Carlton Palmer cannot envisage any scenario in which Sunderland allow the rising star to follow in his Elland Road footsteps.
Former Leeds ace thinks Dennis Cirkin will not leave Sunderland for Yorkshire
“I know that this has come about with the [contract],” Palmer, who spent three years at Leeds in the 1990s, tells Football League World. “That is alerting clubs to the fact he hasn’t renewed his deal yet at Sunderland.
“He’s been a standout performer for Sunderland this season, which inevitably leads to transfer talk. He’s played in every single league game so far and has been outstanding.
“His performance against Coventry City [last weekend] where he scored a brilliant solo effort reminded everyone of how good a player he is.
“There’s one thing that’s not going to happen,” the former Southampton and Nottingham Forest midfielder adds. “They are not going to sell him to Leeds United. That’s for sure.
“Sunderland are top of the league and Leeds are vying to get promotion. He won’t be sold and I would be very, very surprised if he doesn’t commit his future to Sunderland in the coming weeks and months.”
Sunderland left-back in ‘outstanding’ form under Regis Le Bris
Cirkin, capped by England at Under 20 level, moved to the North East from Tottenham Hotspur back in 2021 for a fee reportedly in the region of £1 million.
At the age of just 22, and after playing every minute of Sunderland’s Championship campaign under Le Bris, is it not difficult to imagine the Black Cats demanding a considerable, eight-figure sum regardless of the uncertainty surrounding Cirkin’s long-term future.
Folllowing an injury-hit 2023/24 campaign, the Dublin-born Cirkin is more than making up for lost time.
That blistering Coventry strike was his second of the current season already, while few players epitomise Le Bris-ball better than Sunderland’s jet-heeled, swashbuckling full-back.
“I think he has been one of the most outstanding players in the division this season,” former EFL stalwart Sam Parkin tells the Championship Check-In podcast.
“When you watch him live, he is a very good athlete. I think he gets up and down. It is eye-catching the way he moves with the ball, but his decision-making on the ball and his ability on the ball have been top class this season.”