“When I start something I want to finish it. In the end, I made my decision and told the gaffer [Roberto De Zerbi] and the club that I wanted to stay with Brighton and fight for my spot.”
Imagine him & Joe Gelhardt
Ross Stewart has been ruled out for the rest of the season due to an injury and this means that Joe Gelhardt, 20, is the club’s only senior striker option for the remainder of the campaign.
The England U21 international has only made 63 appearances at first-team level in his career and showed signs of his inexperience during his Sunderland debut against Millwall in the Championship – losing eight of his 12 duels and only completing 68% of his attempted passes whilst failing to produce a goal or key pass, as per Sofascore.
Tony Mowbray is lacking a senior option to compete with, and potentially mentor, Gelhardt in the coming months and that is what Undav could have been.
The 26-year-old, who was once dubbed “prolific” by The Athletic journalist Andy Naylor, plundered a whopping 45 goals and 18 assists in 70 appearances for Belgian side Royale Union Saint Gilloise, after scoring 24 times and providing 15 assists in 73 matches for SV Meppen in Germany.
Undav has proven himself to be a lethal goalscorer in the top flight in Belgium and in the German third tier and has struck twice in five cup outings for Brighton this season.
These statistics show that the £20k-per-week marksman could have been a consistent and reliable scorer and creator for Sunderland at the top end of the pitch, whilst also being a great player for Gelhardt to work with and learn from.
Instead, Mowbray is left with a 20-year-old who is still making his way in the game as his only number nine for the next four months of the season, which is why Undav rejecting the chance to leave Brighton was a big blow as the German could have formed a promising strikeforce alongside the Leeds loanee.
