Two Replacements For Jermain Defoe Who Sunderland Can Consider
With Jermain Defoe, who was easily their best player for the last two years, moving to Bournemouth, where does that leave Sunderland in terms of taking chances next year?
Without Defoe, Sunderland could have been relegated a year earlier. His departure therefore leaves a huge gap in the squad, even when faced with a Championship season, and with other clubs stealing a march on them in the transfer market, who will Sunderland rely on for goals next term?
Here we look at two contenders for Defoe’s position at the Stadium of Light:
Jason Cummings (Hibernian)
The 21-year-old striker has had an excellent couple of years since breaking into the first team at East Road, though caution would always be urged given that Hibs have until now been plying their trade in the Championship in Scotland.
Cummings made 31 appearances in the second tier last season, scoring 19 times and creating 6 assists. All in all, Cummings was involved in a goal once in every 90 minutes which is a fine record, though it is something one would want him to improve on in case he ends up in the English Championship.
The boy from Edinburgh definitely has quality though and has so far reached Scotland under-21 level, being capped 8 times and scoring 3 goals. If the fee were not too much, a punt on Cummings may not be a bad idea. Sunderland are due to play Hibs in a pre-season friendly so it’ll be interesting to see which team he lines up for!
Greg Stewart (Birmingham City)
In this case, it depends on Derek McInnes getting the job as Sunderland manager. Stewart was of definite interest to McInnes at Aberdeen and, although his record at Birmingham is poor, he did better in Scotland and would respond well to the former Bristol City manager.
21 appearances in the Championship last season failed to produce a single goal, though it’s only a question of time before his output improves in this division. Caution would definitely be urged with either of these players though and it remains to be seen whether the money expected from any deal for Jordan Pickford will be reinvested in the team. It is possible that the money may used to repay the debts as well. Now that Sunderland are in the Championship, they need to turn things around quickly.