Morgan Feeney will leave Sunderland when his contract expires later this month, Lee Johnson has confirmed.
The centre-back joined the Black Cats after leaving Everton in the summer but signed only a short-term deal.
The 21-year-old impressed on his debut for the club, scoring in Sunderland's 8-1 win against Aston Villa U21s at the Stadium of Light in the EFL Trophy in September.
But Feeney then suffered a serious hamstring injury playing for the U23s against Burnley just a fortnight later, with that problem expected to sideline him for four months.
With new Sunderland head coach Johnson intent on playing a back four rather than the back three played under his predecessor Phil Parkinson, he feels that he has enough centre-backs with Bailey Wright, Tom Flanagan, Jordan Willis, Conor McLaughlin, and the on-loan Dion Sanderson, and with youngsters such as Brandon Taylor and Ollie Younger also waiting in the wings.
Johnson said: "We had a good chat with Morgan and I think he would be an excellent signing for somebody.
"We just felt that with the strength in depth we have in that particular position, Morgan is at a time in his career where he needs to be a big fish in a small sea and find his identity.
"He will do that because he’s a very good player and an unbelievable lad as well.
"From what I’ve seen so far, I would recommend him, but for that short-term fix he requires, which is a lot of games, after some good conversations – with Morgan and his representatives – we decided it was best to let him crack on."
