Sunderland desperately need more firepower in attack, Tony Mowbray’s Black Cats overly reliant on the star quality provided by Jack Clarke down the wing to bail them out this season when the strikers routinely fluff their lines.
Nazariy Rusyn and Eliezer Mayenda were given a half each at Plymouth Argyle up top, but neither could get their first goal in Sunderland colours – the Black Cats losing 2-0 at Home Park, Rusyn failing to register a single shot of target as per Sofascore from his dire 45-minute spell.
Rusyn, Mayenda and the rest of the Sunderland crop of strikers are all still goalless in the Championship, Sunderland never replacing Ross Stewart with a new and confident attacker ready to come in and set the world alight.
On the contrary, former Black Cats man Charlie Wyke has been prolific with Wigan Athletic in the division below to add insult to injury.
Let go by then manager Lee Johnson in 2021, it’s a sale out of the building Sunderland could well now be regretting.
How much Sunderland signed Charlie Wyke for
Sunderland signed Wyke for £400k on the eve of the 2018-19 season in League One, the Black Cats splashing the cash to bring in a proven goalscorer at third tier level – Wyke netting 15 goals from 40 appearances at Bradford City, before relocating to the Stadium of Light to lead the line as Sunderland’s new star striker.
Charlie Wyke’s goal record at Sunderland (all competitions) | ||
|---|---|---|
Season | Games | Goals |
2018/19 | 27 | 5 |
2019/20 | 30 | 6 |
2020/21 | 51 | 31 |
Sourced by Transfermarkt. | ||
It took time for the experienced League One figure to gel in the Black Cats camp, but his final full season with Sunderland saw the 6 foot 2 striker truly come alive as a frightening prospect for defenders to handle.
The lofty attacker scored 31 goals in total for his team in all competitions during the 2020/21 campaign, Wyke’s goals unfortunately couldn’t help his side win promotion as Johnson’s men crashed out of the playoffs to Lincoln City in the semi-finals.
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Sunderland have never replaced the potency Stewart showcased on a regular basis at the Stadium of Light.
Wyke would fail to agree terms on a new Black Cats deal after the season was up, opting to join Wigan instead where he’s continued to be a lethal striker at third-tier level for the Latics.
Charlie Wyke’s statistics this season
Now 30 years of age, Wyke is showing no signs of slowing down with Wigan this season despite his career winding down.
The experienced attacker started this campaign at breakneck speed, scoring five of his six goals this season within the first four games which included a double away at Bolton Wanderers as the Latics surprisingly won 4-0.
Wyke does only have one goal since, but the former Bradford man would be a useful figure to have around the Sunderland camp at this moment in time – adding experience to the attacking set-up. After all, his tally this term is better than any of Mowbray’s crop of strikers.
With the Black Cats putting their faith in up-and-coming youth talent, the Sunderland boss will pray that the likes of Rusyn do come good whilst Wyke will hope he can get back to his goalscoring best soon for Wigan when he’s back in the side.
