Sunderland are not interested in signing Tom Barkhuizen from Preston North End this summer, ending any hopes of a reunion with his former manager Alex Neil.
What’s the word?
When asked about The Black Cats’ interest in the winger on Twitter, journalist Alan Nixon confirmed that Sunderland weren’t interested in signing the player whose contract runs out at the end of this month.
He simply commented in four words: “Sunderland and Barkhuizen? No.”
He’s a player that Sunderland manager Alex Neil will know well, but it appears he’s not interested in bringing him to Wearside to help with their task in the Championship next season.
They recently defeated Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 in the League One play-off final to secure a long-awaited return to the second tier of English football.
Supporters will be gutted
Supporters of Sunderland will surely be gutted that Barkhuizen is not on their list for the summer. There have been many outgoings at the Stadium of Light recently as Neil looks to overhaul his squad in preparation for the challenge ahead.
Should Sunderland sign Barkhuizen?
The 28-year-old would have come with heaps of experience in the Championship, having made a total of 209 appearances for Preston North End where he was directly involved in 28 goals during that time.
He joined Preston for free in 2017 just before Neil was appointed, and he was valued at £180k. That has since risen massively to £1.35m which proves that he is a better player than when he arrived.
The Scottish manager regularly used the player and he clocked up over 30 league appearances in all three seasons Neil was at Deepdale.
Securing his services with no transfer fee involved seemed like a no brainer, but it appears Sunderland club are focusing on targets elsewhere. One of those players is Nathan Broadhead with The Northern Echo reporting recently that Sunderland want him to move to the club permanently following a successful loan spell.
It will be interesting to see the signings that the club make ahead of next season, will they be ambitious in the hope of achieving their ultimate goal of returning to the Premier League, or will they be cautious and look at establishing themselves in an already tough division.
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