The three Sunderland AFC players are already bracing themselves for a speculative January.
These Black Cats players will likely have to contend with attention in 2024 despite the fact that the January transfer window has just closed.
Patrick Roberts, a Sunderland player who revitalized his career there, could draw interest in January as he has a contract that expires in June 2024.
Despite not leaving the club during the most recent transfer window, Alex Pritchard is likely to be available for a low price in January and may draw interest from teams due to his Championship experience.
Chris Rigg, a young player with promise who made his Premier League debut last year, is already attracting interest from clubs in the league, with rumors tying Manchester United to him in 2024.
Even though the summer transfer window has just ended, some clubs are already planning for the next opportunity to make deals in January 2024.
And there may be some Sunderland players who, whether due to contract-related issues or simply because of performances, will draw significant interest at the start of the following year.
Let’s look at THREE members of the Black Cats who might be awaiting some naming rumors in January.
Patrick Roberts
Sunderland are perhaps the best thing that could have ever happened for Roberts after his career well and truly stalled when at Man City.
Once a £12 million signing at the age of 18 from Fulham for the Premier League champions, Roberts was loaned out to six different clubs during his time at the Etihad Stadium, with the last few spells away being particularly unproductive.
And despite his numbers in his first half-season with Sunderland in League One during the 2021-22 season not being particularly impressive, Roberts really stepped it up a notch when shining in the Championship in 2022-23.
Scoring five times and notching seven league assists, Roberts played a big part in Sunderland’s run to the play-offs, and the club resisted transfer offers late in the summer transfer window from Southampton, who reportedly bid £5 million for the 26-year-old.
The issue for Sunderland now is that Roberts is out of contract in June 2024, meaning if a new deal isn’t signed before January, then clubs from overseas can approach the winger on a pre-contract basis, and there’s likely to be clubs from overseas taking a look to see if Roberts wants to move abroad once more.
2Alex Pritchard
With Sunderland wanting to bring the average age of their squad down considerably over the summer, it was a surprise that Pritchard didn’t depart despite Tony Mowbray admitting that it was likely he would exit the Stadium of Light.
Mowbray went on to state that he was shocked that there wasn’t any real interest in signing the technically gifted midfielder, but despite the expectation that he would have left in the previous transfer window, it’s likely that Pritchard will still play a part as a substitute this season.
However, with a contract like Roberts’ that expires next summer, Pritchard will likely be available for a small fee in January, which should surely get a number of clubs interested in a player that has plenty of Championship experience.
3Chris Rigg
A star player at youth level for a few years now, Rigg is no hidden secret anymore having made his debut last season at the age of 15 for the first-team.
Rigg is now a fully-fledged first-team player, having made his Championship debut earlier in September against Southampton – scoring in that game as well with a late header to put the icing on the cake in a 5-0 win.
Right now, Rigg is on a two-year scholarship at Sunderland and can only turn professional when he turns 17 in June 2024, but that doesn’t stop a pre-contract being agreed before then.
However, Premier League clubs will still continue to be linked with him even before January, so it won’t be a shock when the likes of Man United are reported to be interested in him come 2024.
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