Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman has built an impressive squad full of talented young players who have the potential to develop and increase their market value.
The Black Cats have worked on a model that revolves around improving and selling on prospects whilst remaining competitive on the pitch and it has brought relative success to date.
Player | Market value (via Transfermarkt) |
|---|---|
Jack Clarke | £10.3m |
Anthony Patterson | £6m |
Timothee Pembele | £4.3m |
Jobe Bellingham | £4.3m |
Dan Neil | £3.8m |
Sunderland’s current five most-valuable players | |
They reached the play-offs in their first season back in the Championship last season and then sold Ross Stewart to Southampton in a deal that could reach £12m this summer.
Despite their sale of the Scotland international, the Black Cats are currently fourth in the table as it stands, after 11 matches, and look on course for another play-off charge.
However, Sunderland have not always made the right decision or offered enough of a pathway to young players coming through the ranks and one talent who slipped through their grasp is John Egan, who is now worth more than current star centre-back Daniel Ballard.
Where did John Egan start his career?
The central defender started his youth career with Greenwood in his native Ireland before a move to the Stadium of Light in 2009 at the age of 16.
He went on to rack up 30 appearances for the Black Cats at U21 level but never made a first-team appearance for the club during his five-year spell on Wearside.
Egan spent time on loan with Sheffield United, Crystal Palace, and Bradford throughout his time at Sunderland. However, the Irish ace never played more than four competitive games in any of those loans.
His best spell came during the second half of the 2013/14 campaign with a loan move to Southend that allowed him to accumulate 15 appearances in League Two.
However, his exposure to regular first-team football for the first time was not enough to convince then-Black Cats boss Gus Poyet that he had the potential to make an impact for his parent club moving forward.
How much did Sunderland receive for Egan?
Sunderland did not receive a single penny in transfer fees for Egan as the head coach allowed the central defender to leave upon the expiry of his contract in the summer of 2014.
This meant that the former Greenwood prospect departed from the Stadium of Light for £0 and he took the next step in his development by moving to Gillingham, who were in League One at the time.
The former Black Cats youngster hit the ground running with his new club and immediately established himself as a regular fixture at the heart of their defence over the subsequent two seasons.
Egan racked up a staggering 92 appearances in his two years with Gillingham, which included 81 League One outings, and contributed with 11 goals and four assists as a centre-back.
That form earned him a transfer to Championship side Brentford in the summer of 2016 and the Irish gem quickly adapted to life at that level.
He played 67 league matches in two seasons with the Bees and won at least 60% of his individual duels in that time, which shows that the towering enforcer was able to dominate opposition players with his physical attributes.
His dominant performances were enough to convince Sheffield United to smash their transfer record to sign him for a reported £4m ahead of the 2018/19 campaign.
How many matches has Egan played for Sheffield United?
At the time of writing (13/10/2023), Egan has played 224 matches for the Blades in all competitions and is currently in their Premier League squad for the 2023/24 season.
His first year at Bramall Lane was a roaring success. The Ireland international started 44 of their 46 matches and won 62% of his duels on the way to promotion to the top-flight as they finished second in the Championship.
Egan then started 36 of United’s 38 Premier League games the following term as his side kept 12 clean sheets and secured a top-half finish.
The Blades were, unfortunately, relegated back to the second tier at the end of the 2020/21 campaign but then worked their way back to the top division with promotion in the 2022/23 season.
Sunderland’s former academy defender played in 45 of their 46 matches and helped his team to keep an impressive 19 shutouts in total.
How much is Egan worth now?
Egan, who was once hailed as a “leader” by journalist Kate Burlaga, is currently valued at €6m (£5.2m) by Transfermarkt and this illustrates his impressive rise since being released for £0 by Sunderland and Poyet in 2014.
Only Jack Clarke and Anthony Patterson are currently worth more than the Irish colossus within the current squad, which means that the Sheffield United star is worth more than every defender currently at the Stadium of Light.
That includes Ballard, who joined from Arsenal in 2022, as the English centre-back is currently valued at €2.5m (£2.1m) by Transfermarkt after his performances for the Black Cats last term.
The 24-year-old titan made 19 Championship appearances and contributed with 3.1 tackles and interceptions per match to go alongside a duel success rate of 62%, as per Sofascore.
Statistic | Egan | Ballard |
|---|---|---|
Appearances | 45 | 19 |
Sofascore rating | 7.01 | 6.95 |
Interceptions (per game) | 1.8 | 1.5 |
Duel success rate | 62% | 62% |
Clean sheets | 19 | Four |
Egan vs Ballard in the 2022/23 Championship (via Sofascore) | ||
Now 30, Egan is an established performer within the top two tiers and has proven himself to be an excellent option for a team fighting to get promoted to the Premier League, which is where Sunderland currently are as a club.
His aforementioned statistics and value in comparison to Ballard suggest that the 30-year-old colossus would be Tony Mowbray’s outstanding defensive option at the back.
Therefore, Poyet and the club had a mare in the summer of 2014 when they allowed Egan to depart on a free transfer as they could have shown a little more faith in the young defender.
Whilst it is easy to look back with the benefit of hindsight, Sunderland did not give the centre-back a full season of playing regular football out on loan before they made a decision on his long-term future, and it has come back to haunt them.
