Alan Hutton says clubs could monitor Regis Le Bris and sets Sunderland target | OneFootball

Alan Hutton believes rival clubs could be monitoring Regis Le Bris after Sunderland’s surge under the Frenchman, and he has set a pragmatic target for their third season.

Appointed in summer 2024 to some surprise, Le Bris delivered promotion within a year, beating Sheffield United in the Championship play-off final at Wembley. Speaking to Sunderland Echo, the former Sunderland and Aston Villa defender gave his verdict.

On their Premier League return, Sunderland defied talk of a struggle, posted notable results against Newcastle United, Arsenal and Chelsea, and finished seventh to reach the Europa League.

Hutton said: “With the season they’ve had, for a team getting promoted to finish seventh, being in the Europa League, he’s doing something right and they’ve spent a lot of money with a lot of new players. There’s a big turnover there so to get that all correct, and then moving in the right direction, he’s definitely doing something right. I’d imagine there’ll be people monitoring his situation because as it stands right now, his stock will be very high.”

Sunderland now face a campaign on four fronts after qualifying for Europe. Hutton added: “You’re looking for stability. I know there expectation when they went up - but it’s about being in the Premier League so anything above relegation zone you would think. Especially with Europe. If they can finish in that tenth position with being in Europe, I think that would go down as a success.”

Source: Sunderland Echo