Contract talks that must be Speakman's next priority
It has been an intense 2021 on Wearside, and as such it can be easy to forget that Sunderland's rebuild under Kyril Louis-Dreyfus is still very much in its nascent stages.
Even as the club signalled a move towards a bold new strategy with what appears to have been a successful summer window, there is still much more to be done.
Speaking earlier this summer, Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman admitted that the challenge of building a squad for the immediate challenge of a League One campaign meant that work on some of the club's infrastructure had to take if not a back seat, then certainly a slightly lower place on the list of priorities.
While the role of data analysis is growing, for example, Speakman was clear that its implementation is still very much in the early stages.
The closing of the transfer window will allow for that focus to be renewed.
All the same, the pace of football is relentless and even as the windows huts, there are important sporting issues for Speakman to address.
His arrival has led to better planning in the transfer market, and supporters will hope that the same applies to contract management.
After all, one of the most significant failures of the previous regime was allowing Josh Maja and Jon McLaughlin to depart for a fraction of their true market value, significantly imp acting the team on the pitch in the months that followed.
First and foremost, the protracted renewal process involving Denver Hume has now surely reached the critical juncture. Hume needs to decide his next move to avoid losing regular football for a period, which would seriously impact his development.
The door has remained open for the youngster, with the one real unknown being whether a Championship club who failed to land a full back of their own in the closing days of the market will be tempted to move.
Though many supporters have understandably been left frustrated with Hume's reluctance to commit, internally there has been little blame placed on the player himself and there has remained a desire to keep a' smashing professional and cracking kid '.
That has, again, made for a welcome change from some of the drama that surrounded Maja’s exit in particular. Of increasingly importance is securing the long-term future of Elliot Embleton.
Speakman has from day one made clear his desire to make the 22-year-old a key fixture in the squad, but circumstancesmade for a bumpy road along the way.
By Lee Johnson’s own admission, their relationship endured a rocky start when he dropped Embleton to the bench for his first game in charge, making room for Aiden McGeady to return to the starting XI.
Something similar had happened in the latter stages of Phil Park in son' s tenure, and so you can forgive Embleton for wondering just how much he was valued.
Chris Maguire’s decision to turn down a January loan move then meant that Sunderland opted to loan out Embleton, conscious of the need to protect his game time and also to keep Johnson’s squad lean.
Embleton’s stock rose significantly during that promotion win with Blackpool, and the uncertainty over his future in the early weeks of the summer reflected that.
Not because Sunderland didn’t rate him, which they did. But because there was very clearly an opportunity to play regular Championship football at Bloomfield Road, and logic dictated that so long asap lace in the X Ion Wear side was uncertain, this was an avenue Embleton would be wise to consider.
He is young still, but old enough to need a starting role week in, week out. The noise around a return to Blackpool ebbed away as the immensely talented attacking midfielder seized his chance in preseason. That stunning strike against Wycombe Wanderers summed up the improvement he has brought to Johnson’s side, with his unmistakable quality on the ball but more importantly, his bravery to take risks in possession.
Though Alex Pr it cha rd will keep applying pressure on his place, he has finally become the integral part of the squad that his promise has long warranted.
That he will have suitors across the game, you can be sure, and it would be wise for Sunderland to resolve the situationwell ahead of the January window. Speakman hinted in early August it was a discussion firmly on his radar.
Elsewhere, Lynden Gooch is entering the final year of his deal and has started the campaign strongly. And though it remains early days in the campaign, the club will surely be starting to consider rewarding Dan Neil for his outstanding and rapid progression.
Neil is admittedly just over a year into his first professional contract, which still has another two to run. Sunderland will be eager to ensure Neil’s focus remains on maintaining the consistency of his early-season performances, but should he continue to thrive then equally important will be recognising his shift in status to a key first-team player.
Losing academy talent has been an all-too familiar occurrence in the years since Sunderland dropped to League One and in truth, it is probably another year or two until the effects of that are fully felt. When the absence in the youth teams is more keenly felt further up the chain, and when the likes of Joe Hugill and Sam Greenwood are starting to make their first significant steps in senior football.
Watching Sunderland in the early stages of this season, you wonder just how significant Neil’s decision to turn down Premier League interest in favour of staying at his boyhood club will come to be in the years ahead.
Proactive contract management would not only protect Sunderland’s assets, but send another unmistakably strong signal that this is indeed a new era.