It feels make or break for Sunderland player after "nightmare" scenario: View | OneFootball

Sunderland are a club that have adopted a policy of signing young, talented players in recent years.

One such player to arrive at the Stadium of Light in recent history is Jewison Bennette, signed from Costa Rican side Herediano in 2022.

In his 15 Championship outings in his debut season, it was clear Bennette was raw and had plenty of development to undergo before being ready for the first team, perhaps not making it too surprising that he featured just once for the club in the first half of the 2023/24 campaign.

Bennette's loan nightmare

As a result of his lack of action at the Stadium of Light, Bennette decided it was time to head out on loan in January for more regular minutes, joining up with Greek side Aris Saloniki.

Disastrously, Bennette would go on to make just two appearances for the Greek Super League side, reflecting on that loan spell in an interview with Costa Rican media.

Bennette told Tetetica, via ChronicleLive: "It was quite a complicated year."

"I made bad decisions, going to a club that broke my contract in every way. My agent recommended that I go there. He told me not to talk to anyone, it was a bad decision I made, but I’m learning.

“When I came to Aris I played two games and after that they had to pay my salary, house and car.

“I’ll start pre-season with Sunderland and we’ll see what happens if they give me on loan to a new team or not,” Bennette added.

“I made a bad decision and it’s a learning experience for me, not to make hasty decisions and now to concentrate on my team to give my best.”

Make or break season for Bennette

Considering how his loan went in Greece, this upcoming pre-season and, indeed, season, feels like it could be make or break for Bennette in terms of his Sunderland career at least.

Whilst he is still young, as we discussed previously, Sunderland have been buying up plenty of young talent in recent years, and if it looks as though Bennette is not going to fulfill the potential Sunderland think he has, they will likely put their faith in another young player in his position.

Sunderland and Bennette face a crucial summer, then, with both needing to act superbly in the coming months.

From Sunderland's perspective, they must go into pre-season and be realistic about whether or not Bennette is going to get much playing time next season, and act accordingly.

If they deem that is not going to be the case, the club must act to find the player a suitable loan with a club that will allow him to get regular game time. Clearly, Aris was not a suitable club for Bennette to join when they began to leave him out over disputes over salary and his car.

Bennette, too, must work incredibly hard this summer. Sunderland, if they do not see sufficient development and potential remaining, may even decide to move him on permanently.

As such, the 19-year-old needs to ensure he remains in the club's plans, and grasp any opportunity to head out on loan with both hands, and try his utmost to impress.