An exodus of young talent that said it all
BALI Mumba’s departure to Norwich City was the straw that broke the camel’s back for a number of Sunderland fans when it came to the previous ownership regime.
Of course, performances on the pitch also played their part, but when the former Sunderland academy graduate – who was tipped to become the next big thing to come out of the Stadium of Light – joined the Canaries for the paltry sum of just £350k, fans were disgusted.
It’s always difficult to predict the career path of a youngster at such an early age but with Mumba, it seemed more a case of when, not if, he would break into the first team.
Sadly for Black Cats supporters they would never see Mumba get a run of games in a red-and-white shirt, and he’d follow Josh Maja and Joel Asoro on the list of academy graduates who would leave Wearside.
When you then add Joe Hugill to that list, a forward on the brink of Manchester United’s first team who received glowing praise from former boss Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer, it really was a damning outlook.
So, when Kyril Louis-Dreyfus was handed the keys at the Stadium of Light, he set about coming up with his own longterm vision for the red-andwhites.
Sunderland’s plight in League One needs no recapping, but alongside Lee Johnson, the fruits of their early labour are coming to the fore.
There were early question marks over this season’s approach to the transfer window – bringing a number of relatively inexperienced youngsters through the door, to replace the likes of Grant Leadbitter, Max Power and top goalscorer Charlie Wyke.
At the time of writing, Sun
derland sit one point off the top of the League One summit and, although there’s a fair way to go, things are looking good for the Wearsiders.
Nonetheless, it is two familiar faces who have captured the headlines so far this season.
The early form of Elliot Embleton and Dan Neil showed both Johnson and Louis-Dreyfus that they were right to put their faith in the new Sunderland ethos. Both have been tied down to new contracts on Wearside.
The latter of those two attracted attention from Burnley scouts who took in Sunderland’s Carabao Cup tie with Arsenal – which is testament to the current approach to develop young talent.
Kristjaan Speakman insists Neil will be a Sunderland player at the end of the January transfer window, quashing any
potential transfer speculation linking him with the Premier League side.
The boyhood Sunderland fan has made the position his own this season after turning down a potential loan move away from Wearside last year.
However, if you look even deeper at Johnson’s approach to loan moves – temporary departures for Anthony Patterson, Josh Hawkes, Jack Diamond and now Will Harris – he has gone about addressing one of the biggest problems Sunderland have had for years.
All four are expected to come back into the first-team frame when they return.
The club is slowly rebuilding its name as one of the most promising talent factories in the country and it is becoming a place that has a pathway into the first team – something that the North East has been lacking for many years outside of Middlesbrough.
There’s the caveat that it is a move towards a more sustainable governance from LouisDreyfus, but it also puts an incredible amount of trust in the academy.
Runs in the EFL Trophy and Carabao Cup have included a number of academy talents, with the likes of Stephen Wearne notching vital goals in those competitions.
In a meeting with supporters groups last March, Louis-Dreyfus presented five key targets for his tenure.
Three of these were:
■ Establishing a high-performance culture across the club;
■ Developing a footballing philosophy based on Sunderland’s values and identity, and;
■ Providing opportunities for young players through a holistic development programme.
Granted, there’s still a long way to go until the club truly sees the how effective the plans have been, and a lot of that will hinge on promotion back to the Championship, but it’s so far so good for Sunderland.
If Sunderland can provide constant success stories like they have in such a short period of time, they could well have the upper hand on their billionaire neighbours – much to the approval of their supporters.