Sunderland are on their way to start a new season, this time in the Championship, having been relegated from the top flight in the last season. The Wearside club will also be playing under the guidance of a new coach in the form of Simon Grayson, who is a vastly experienced coach and had been the manager of the Championship side Preston North End before joining Sunderland.
The Black Cats have been compelled to leave quite a few key players to let them join Premier League clubs including their talismanic striker Jermain Defoe, who scored 14 goals throughout the last season, but it was too little to save the season for his club. The other player whom they had to leave is young goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who was in good form in the last season but was let down by his defenders, who failed to support him in keeping the opponent strikers at bay. Defoe has gone on to join Bournemouth while Pickford has been picked by the Merseyside club, Everton.
However, Grayson has been looking to bring in players into the side for the next season and has eyed a number of players from the Championship as well as the Premier League. One such player is the Scottish midfielder Robert Snodgrass, who is currently playing for West Ham United, with a possibility to be offloaded by the Hammers in the summer.
The 29-year-old has been quite a handful to watch out for in the last season while he was playing for Hull City and in the season before that one, which prompted West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic to bring him into the London Stadium, with a view to give that much needed edge to his attack that was missing since the departure of the talismanic French midfielder Dimitri Payet. However, the deal did not work out as it was intended to and the Scottish international had a disappointing season in the Hammers’ midfield.
The winger made 15 appearances in total for West Ham United failing to score a single goal throughout his stay at the London Stadium. He has also not been able to supply regular assists his teammates’ way and ended the last season with only a couple of assists to his name, which is nothing short of disappointing for the Scottish midfielder.
Brighton and Hove Albion are also looking to make a bid for the midfielder this summer, who has been priced at £8 million by the Hammers.
