Sunderland have had a torrid last decade or so, with desperation to stay in the Premier League eventually melting into back-to-back relegations.
Only recently have they had more to celebrate, following their return to the Championship and a strong start to the current campaign.
One of the success stories from their recent form is academy graduate Lynden Gooch, who has become something of a utility man under Tony Mowbray.
During a time when the Black Cats were lacking in the full-back department, the winger has produced plenty of magnificent displays at wing-back.
His emergence into the first team and fine performances across the pitch have unsurprisingly seen an upshoot in value, but just how big of a growth he has yielded will shock even the staunchest Sunderland supporters.
Just four months ago, the USA international was worth a mere £450k. This has now increased by 100% to £900k (via Transfermarkt)
Have you been impressed by Gooch this season?
He truly has become one of the Black Cats’ most important players, having featured 227 times for the club now.
This season alone, before injuries scuppered his involvement earlier this month, he had played every single minute of their Championship campaign. Across these 14 appearances, two goal contributions from the wing-back mark a solid return.
The 26-year-old has shown incredible maturity to master a new position and is well worth his sizeable increase in valuation. As journalist Ray Locker once dubbed him, he is truly “Sunderland’s young US star”.
His former boss Alex Neil is another to have heaped praise on him, saying in light of an impressive performance from Gooch: “His quality yesterday was really top-notch. The one thing I will say about Goochy is that he works his socks off every single day.
“You talk about people wearing their heart on their sleeve for this club, and he is right up there. I don’t think anyone internally at the club would have any doubts about Goochy. He’s a warrior and he’s desperate to do well here.”
Gooch has finally found some consistency now, and this desperation has materialised in his fine run of form.
His value is sure to increase even further as he hopefully helps to push Sunderland further up the league table.
