Nine academy players have signed new contracts at the Stadium of Light, but Benji Kimpioka and Elliot Embleton are still to take up the deals on the table for them.
While the tweaking of Sunderland ’s first team might be taking time to get going, work on the under-23 squad continues apace.
The day after three new signings were announced, it was revealed that nine juniors have extended their contracts.
Jack Diamond, Lee Connelly, Jack Connolly and Jake Hackett have committed to two-year deals, while Brandon Taylor, Jack Bainbridge, Jordan Hunter, Owen Gamble and Anthony Patterson have signed up for a further 12 months.
Part of owner Stewart Donald’s plans for Sunderland is to make better use of the academy, and Ruben Summat, Michael Collins and Ahmed Abdelkader are the latest players drafted in to strengthen them at under-23 level.
The success of some of the Black Cats’ younger age groups was not replicated at under-18 or under-23 level, who finished bottom of their respective leagues.
In recent years the club has cleared out a number of players in their early 20s who were blocking pathways without having made the step up to first-team regulars themselves.
Bainbridge, Connelly, Diamond, Hackett, Hunter and Taylor all made senior debuts last season, while goalkeeper Patterson was on the bench for the league game at Walsall and Barnsley.
Some of the more promising younger players were poached by bigger clubs.
Academy graduate George Honeyman was named club captain last season, Josh Maja was top-scorer, Lynden Gooch their leading League One assist-maker and Denver Hume also made strides at left-back which were rewarded with a new contract.
Kimpioka also made progress, scoring on his senior debut in the Football League Trophy at home to Carlisle United, and against Newcastle United Under-21s. But Donald is wary of him following the lead of Maja, who ran his contract into its final six months before leaving in a cut-price move to Bordeaux.
The Swedish Under-21 international has just entered the final 12 months of his deal, and Donald said in April if he did not sign an extension, he would be loaned out for the remainder of it .
Embleton’s contract expired last week and he is yet to sign the new one offered. The attacking central midfielder impressed on loan at Grimsby Town last season but with Sunderland overstocked in the middle of the park, even after the departure of Lee Cattermole, the Durham-born player is taking time to weigh his options.
The Black Cats’ commitment to bringing through more players is clear, though, and this flurry of activity is in contrast to senior level, where so far only right-back Conor McLaughlin and goalkeeper Lee Burge have been added to the squad, with Dylan McGeouch triggering a contract extension despite reported interest from Aberdeen.
