Sunderland have endured a mixed start to the 2022/23 Championship campaign as they sit seven points outside the play-off positions after 19 matches.
They have lost more games (seven) than they have won (six) in the division and manager Tony Mowbray may look to the upcoming January transfer window to make some changes to his squad.
A player who could find himself heading out of the exit door at the Stadium of Light is 21-year-old Jay Matete as he has found game time hard to come by so far this season.
Sunderland snapped the Englishman up from Fleetwood in January of this year and he started 12 League One matches as the club eventually secured promotion via the play-offs.
The midfielder ended that campaign with an average SofaScore rating of 6.77 across 36 appearances in the division for Fleetwood and Sunderland combined – a score that placed him 19th in the Black Cats squad.
He has followed that up by struggling for minutes in the Championship this term. Matete has only played six times, starting once, and averaged a rating of 6.68 – ranking him 19th again.
One player the club could bring in to take his place in the squad is Aston Villa outcast Morgan Sanson. The Frenchman could be a quality addition to the side and would allow them to ditch the former Fleetwood man, as Mowbray would not be left short on options in the middle of the park.
It was reported by French outlet Jeunes Footeux, in October, that Sunderland are one of a number of clubs eyeing up the Villa man for a potential loan deal during the second half of the campaign.
Sanson averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.68 in ten Premier League appearances last season – matching Matete’s form in the Championship – and managed a score of 6.78 or higher in each of his last five seasons in Ligue 1 for Montpellier and Marseille.
Should Sunderland sign Sanson?
In his last campaign in the French top-flight, the 28-year-old produced two goals and three assists – creating five ‘big chances’ – in 12 appearances, whilst also making 2.6 tackles and interceptions per game.
Matete managed 3.0 tackles and interceptions per match and chipped in with one goal and one assist in 36 third-tier matches last season, two divisions lower than the level Sanson was playing at in his home country at the time.
These statistics suggest that the Villa man, who Dean Smith claimed has “a bit of everything“, would offer a similar level of defensive quality whilst providing far more for the team in possession by getting into the box to score goals and by creating opportunities for his teammates.
Therefore, Mowbray could ditch Matete, who has flopped so far, in January by bringing in Sanson to replace him, which is why Kristjaan Speakman and the Black Cats head coach must work hard to get this deal done.
