What next for Cats stars facing uncertain futures?
week highlighting the scale of the challenges to overcome.
The view in the game is increasingly that the Premier League and Championship could play to a finish, while Leagues One or Two come to an early conclusion.
However,thegovernment’s statement on Sunday is likely to be key, with any decisions then made next week. A number of clubs throughout the pyramid have expressed the view that as players released are given severance pay for the month of July, they could be expected to play on.
The EFL do not object to this,buttheyhaveraisedsome concernoverthepracticalities of this approach and clearly, it is also dependent on support from the players themselves.
The key question is whether they would be prepared to potentially risk endangering future contracts by playing for a club they know they could well be leaving. As such, the EFL have proposed some other measures.
Most notably, one that if enforced, would set a June 23 deadline for clubs to offer players either a new longterm contract or a short-term extension, which would then expireonthenewend-datefor the season.
This is preferable to FIFA’s proposal of a blanket extension. The clause in Luke O’Nien’s deal is believed to have been activated earlier this year, while there is a similar option on Chris Maguire’s deal.
Antoine Semenyo and Declan John have made little impression so far, they still remain important options in the case of injury and if the season does resume, fixture congestion could make their contributions key. Similarly, there will be some level of uncertainty surrounding Jack Baldwin and Aiden McGeady, both currently out on loan until the end of the campaign.
Before the current postponement of league fixtures, Phil Parkinson had said that it was unlikely that any decisions would be made on contracts until Sunderland knew what division they would find themselvesinfornextseason.
At this stage, an early postponement to the campaign would seem certain to mean a third season in League One.
For now, Sunderland and new CEO Jim Rodwell have been working on two potential playing budgets, one for League One and one for the Championship.
Rodwell has already stated hisbeliefthatplayingbudgets are going to be reduced across theboardrightthroughoutthe three divisions, and it is clear that player wages are going to suffer. Some have privately predicted that wage offers could decline by as much as a quarter from last summer, a process that could be accelerated if clubs, as expected, vote to introduce a salary cap.
Will the declining budgets bring them into the range that Sunderland could do business in? Or will, as we have discussed in the case of McLaughlin, the need to cut costs mean that experienced players available on a free are suddenly a far more appealing prospect to Championship clubs?
That could define the futuresofmany,particularlythe likesofJoelLynchandDuncan Watmore. Similarly, what of talented prospects like Ethan Robson?
Could the changing financial landscape necessitate a rethink? Parkinson will no doubt have in mind the decision he will look to take with each player, depending on what division he is looking ahead to. What happens next will then be defined both by market forces, and the cost controls that seem certain to be implemented by the EFL in the coming weeks and months.
Only time will tell where Sunderland will fit into that landscape.
The 12 players set to leave asitstands:BaileyWright,Declan John, Antoine Semenyo, Jon McLaughlin, Joel Lynch, Tom Flanagan, Alim Ozturk, Ethan Robson, Josh Scowen, Chris Maguire, Kyle Lafferty, Duncan Watmore.