Sunderland have reportedly offered a long-term contract to Joel Asoro and are awaiting a reply from the player’s representatives. According to the Black Cats boss, Chris Coleman, the youngster should accept the terms in order to continue his development into first-team football. He also added that the switch to another team might see them return to U23 football and that will hinder their growth.
We can all agree with the Welshman’s words in this situation but how much does the club’s position come into play over here? Sunderland are at the bottom most spot of the Championship and are poised to undergo their second consecutive relegation.
Coleman has failed to uplift the team to a safe zone and the final 4 games of the season hold little to no relevance. They are 6 points adrift of safety and have lost 21 games out of the 42 in the Championship this season.
They are about to match up against the league top two sides(Wolves and Fulham) in the final two matches of the season and how do you think that will fair? Beating Reading at the Madejski Stadium will require a miraculous amount of optimism and effort, something which Sunderland have struggled to show all season long.
Out of this woeful campaign in England’s second division, Asoro has been one of the refreshing faces to have caught the eyes of the fans and scouts alike. With the front line misfiring in every game this season, the 18-year-old has managed to carve out an all-important rotational role in the Black Cats lineup with over 1500 minutes of first-team action received.
He has appeared in 30 games this season and has scored and assisted on 5 occasions. He even started in 9 league games this season, 4 more than his total appearances in the Premier League 2.
The Swedish U21’s rise has been fuelled by the incompetence of the first team players like Ashley Fletcher and Duncan Watmore but then again who’s complaining? Lewis Grabban already quit the Rockerites in January and Asoro has little competition to fend off next season in the League One.
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His teammate, Josh Maja is also progressing well alongside him and has been offered a similar long-term deal. It would in the best interest of the club to keep developing these players with more minutes and a new contract is an ideal way to go about it.
