South Shields keen on permanent deal for Sunderland’s Ollie Bainbridge | OneFootball

South Shields are pursuing a permanent move for Sunderland wing-back Ollie Bainbridge as his loan enters its final week. Mariners boss Ian Watson wants to keep the 21-year-old after a productive spell in National League North.

The Academy of Light graduate has yet to make a senior appearance for Sunderland, although he was named in the first-team squad five times across the last two years. He played nine times on loan at Kilmarnock in the first half of 2024/25, then joined South Shields in September and became a regular during their title push.

Ian Watson said: “There is definitely an interest from our side. He’ll be leaving Sunderland so he will have a lot of options and it’s up to him what he’s going to do in terms of exploring different things.” According to Sunderland Echo, Watson was speaking about Bainbridge’s future as his loan winds down.

“But we love him here, he’s been amazing for us, we would love to keep him here and make him a big part of what we are going to try and do at the football club.” He added: “He will have opportunities to play elsewhere but we have to try and convince him this is the right thing and I do genuinely think this is the right thing to do to stay here and build here.”

South Shields fell just short in a season-long title race with AFC Fylde and now face Buxton in a play-off semi-final on Saturday afternoon, with the winners to meet Kidderminster Harriers or Macclesfield seven days later. Bainbridge is out of contract at the end of the season.

Source: Sunderland Echo