Sunderland and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman may be keen to add some Championship experience to their ranks this summer.
Sunderland and their ‘model’ were slightly exposed in the 2023/24 season, with a distinct lack of experience contributing towards a 16th place finish.
Mike Dodds said himself towards the end of the campaign that the club could perhaps do with some players who’ve played regular Championship football in the past.
And there’s several free agents with such experience potentially available to the Black Cats this summer…
Paddy McNair
Former Sunderland man Paddy McNair is being released by Middlesbrough this summer, and he’ll surely become hot property.
The Black Cats previously signed Northern Ireland international McNair, along with Donald Love, from Manchester United in a combined £5.5million deal in 2016.
He only made 28 total appearances for the Black Cats but scored seven goals in that time, then going on to play 218 times for Boro before falling out of favour under Michael Carrick.
McNair, who can play across the back line and in midfield, has 212 Championship appearances to his name, with 19 goals and 13 assists.
Sunderland fans know all about his qualities, and at 29, he’s still got a lot of time left ahead of him, so it could be a shrewd signing for years to come.
Alan Browne
Irish midfielder Alan Browne, 29, looks set to leave Preston North End this summer, after a 10-year spell at the club in which he’s made 414 total appearances.
346 of those appearances have come in the Championship, along with 39 goals and 22 assists, so there’s few players out there with as much Championship expertise as Browne.
And midfield is an area which Sunderland are light on with Dan Neil, Jobe Bellingham, Adil Aouchiche, and Pierre Ekwah really the only options with both Corry Evans and Bradley Dack leaving this summer.
Browne is also more of a deeper-lying midfielder which is an area Sunderland are particularly light on right now.
In 41 Championship outings on 2023/24, Browne scored four and assisted four, averaging 25.7 passes per game and 1.1 key pass, and impressively, the 35-cap Republic of Ireland man averaged 1.9 tackles and 5.7 balls recovered (stats from Sofascore), so he could be the ideal replacement for Evans who was sorely missed this season.
Alex Mowatt
Another central midfielder who could be of interest to Sunderland, and indeed a lot of other clubs in the Championship, is Alex Mowatt.
He boasts an impressive 322 Championship appearances in his career after spells with Leeds United, Barnsley, and now West Brom, with 30 goals and 36 assists.
The 29-year-old played a key role in the Baggies’ top six finish this season, featuring 43 times in Championship fixtures, scoring twice and assisting five more.
Despite that, there’s a lot of uncertainty around his future with West Brom yet to offer him an extended deal ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
Mowatt is more of a technical midfielder than the likes of Browne, averaging 47.6 passes per game; almost evenly-split between passes in his own half and in the opposition half.
For comparison, Neil averaged 51.8 passes per game in the 2023/24 Championship, so Mowatt could be a really solid back up option for Neil, and even give him a bit of competition to help push his game along.