Sunderland’s stance on the future of Callum Styles has been explained.
Sunderland had looked to secure a deal for Callum Styles early in the January window, but were forced to shelve their interest due to the midfielder requiring appendix surgery.
However, the Black Cats reignited the move on deadline day and eventually snapped him up on a loan deal with an option to make it permanent this summer.
Styles was expected to come in as a midfielder primarily, with Corry Evans still set for months on the sidelines at the time.
However, injuries to Niall Huggins, Aji Alese and Dennis Cirkin saw the 24-year-old played in both a left-back and left wing-back role.
Styles had a nightmare start in the defeat to Swansea City and has mostly really struggled in a back-four, however recent games against West Brom and Leeds United have seen him put on some ‘superb‘ performances as part of a back five.
The Barnsley man has started seven matches since returning to full fitness but is yet to start a match in his preferred midfield role.
Will Sunderland sign Callum Styles permanently?
With only three games left, the Black Cats are going to need to make a decision on whether they want to sign Callum Styles permanently.
According to Chronicle Live, Sunderland’s ‘long-standing interest’ in Styles means a deal ‘could likely’ be made permanent this summer.
The report explains that Kristjaan Speakman’s eagerness to sign Styles was due to his versatility – having played in midfield at international level, while he could also act as cover in defence in a particularly injury-prone area of the pitch.
Despite only beginning to impress in the past couple of weeks, Sunderland could now look to keep him beyond the summer window.
Barnsley could well be promoted to the Championship via the play-offs this season, however no doubt Styles would like to be challenging for a place in the Premier League with Sunderland instead.
Will he be a regular or a back-up next season?
While the Hungary international could be great for cover across the pitch, I would like to think he won’t be a first team regular next season.
While he has looked much better in recent games, he still is far from the quality of players such as Dennis Cirkin or Dan Neil.
I expect Aji Alese and Cirkin to comfortably battle it out for that left-back role next term, while Neil and Chris Rigg will have two of the midfield spots stapled down. Jobe Bellingham is likely to be the third, but we could well sign another defensive midfielder too.
I wouldn’t complain if we did sign Styles and I still think he needs to be given a fair shot to impress in the middle of the park, but I would be far from excited by his permanent arrival.