Sunderland told they have "mismanaged" winger and urged to sort domestic transfer | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Sunderland's preparations for the next Championship season will be well underway, with a decision to be made on many first-team and fringe players, including Jewison Bennette.

After an underwhelming season of stagnation in the second tier in finishing 16th in the league, there are bound to be a number of changes behind the scenes at the Stadium of Light, with the futures of many players up for discussion in both the short and long-term.

This year, off-field issues overshadowed performances on the pitch, with the North East outfit still yet to employ a new manager following the sacking of Michael Beale in February. While talks will be progressing for a new man to take up a position in the dugout, recruitment decisions will be going on all the time.

During the transfer window ahead of the 2022/23 season, the Black Cats saw an array of talented players arrive at the Stadium of Light as part of a new transfer forward-thinking strategy under Kyril Louis-Dreyfus.

The likes of Jack Clarke, Dan Ballard, and Abdoullah Ba were just a few of the names who arrived in the summer, providing attacking flair and midfield stability to a team that was pushing for a return to the Premier League despite only just gaining promotion from League One.

One of those arrivals included a then 18-year-old, Jewison Bennette, who joined the club from Costa Rican side, Herediano, with many excited about the capture of the young and lightning quick winger. The Costa Rica international was hoping that could be his breakout season with the Black Cats.

He even scored in his second match for the club against Watford in the Championship and featured 18 times under Tony Mowbray last season, scoring twice and collecting a solitary assist as well, but will have been wanting to kick on further heading into 2023/24, in order to make more of an impression and showcase his talent.

Jewison Bennette's Sunderland struggles

Of course, his place in the pecking order was always likely to be behind the likes of Clarke and Patrick Roberts, but he would play just nine minutes in the second tier, again making more appearances with the Black Cats' development side. That subsequently concluded with a January loan switch to Greek side, Aris Thessaloniki, where he made just two appearances in the Super League and his season was ended early by injury.

We asked FLW's Sunderland fan pundit Jack Austwicke his thoughts on the situation regarding Bennette and his future, he said: "It feels like Bennette has been quite mismanaged.

"It's come out that his loan to Greece was pretty disastrous; it didn't go how any of us wanted it to.

"He played just two games. It's helped no one. "He's basically had a four-month holiday to Greece and that's about all he got out of it. "He's no further forward and I still think he's quite far away from the first-team, unfortunately. "I quite like the kid but I can't see him getting anywhere near it. "So maybe it's about time to cash-in or just give him another loan.

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Jewison Bennette's Sunderland future

He arrived with plenty of promise, having already become the youngest-ever player to represent his nation at 17 years and two months when coming on as a substitute against El Salvador in August 2021.

Many Sunderland fans were excited by the signing, and got their first glimpse of Bennette in an eight-minute cameo appearance against Reading, scoring his first goal for the club in his second appearance in a draw away to Watford.

But the early season form never materialised for a long spell, with the Costa Rican restricted to so little football in the Championship, making just one appearance. However, regarding his future on Wearside, it is also important to remember that the development of young players isn't always linear progression.

It seems unfair to judge a 19-year-old player so early in his career having moved to a new country just two years ago, but if Sunderland are serious about returning to the Premier League, then some players simply won't make it. For now, Austwicke's suggestion of another loan - this time in England - seems to make the most sense in that regard.