"A departure feels right" - Sunderland player set for the exit door: The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Sunderland are not set to offer midfielder Carl Winchester a contract extension in the summer, with the Sunderland Echo expecting the 29-year-old to depart in the summer.

Playing consistently last time out as the Black Cats managed to secure a Championship return, which often entailed playing out of position as a right-back, the Northern Irishman played an important role.

However, he was deemed surplus to requirements at The Stadium of Light this season, paving the way for a loan move to Shrewsbury Town to be sanctioned in the summer, and he has gone on to appear 30 times for the League One outfit who still have a chance of disrupting the play-off picture.

Winchester penned down a two-and-a-half-year deal when he arrived at Sunderland from Forest Green Rovers in January 2021, managing 67 appearances for the Black Cats in that time.

Three of our writers here at FLW have shared their thoughts regarding Winchester and whether it will be the right decision for Sunderland to part company...

Billy Mulley

Given his importance to the team last season, it was somewhat of a surprise that he was not involved before a loan move to Shrewsbury came about.

I did not expect Winchester to start regularly for the Black Cats in the Championship but I imagined him playing a part on the fringes and stepping up when required.

Now, I think sanctioning Winchester's permanent departure would make total sense, especially when you consider that Sunderland have upped it a gear under Tony Mowbray and have quickly emerged as one of the division's most progressive and exciting clubs.

This could pave the way for Shrewsbury to secure the signing of Winchester on a permanent basis, which could be a situation that benefits all involved, with the Shrews being another side who have progressed at an exciting rate this season.

Alfie Burns

It’s not really a surprise.

Winchester isn’t a bad midfielder and he’s having a fairly decent loan with Shrewsbury in League One.

However, despite playing a high volume of games, he’s hardly pulling up the kind of trees you need to if he wants to break back into the picture at Sunderland.

Sunderland’s focus is on youth at the moment and Tony Mowbray won’t be backwards in coming forwards when it comes to that strategy.

He will need experience, too, yet that experience is more likely to come in the form of players with more pedigree of pushing Sunderland into the top-six.

Winchester just doesn’t have that about him and, as Sunderland evolve, a departure feels right.

Ben Wignall

It's probably best for all parties that Winchester moves on to seek a new challenge.

When the Black Cats were in League One, Winchester was a decent recruit as he's a versatile player capable of covering multiple positions and he also had experience at the level.

There was always going to be a doubt that he could step up into the Championship at the age of 29, and as it happened Alex Neil clearly could not find room for him in his squad.