West Brom told to pursue deal for Sunderland AFC outcast - he's got what Baggies are "lacking" | OneFootball

FLW's West Brom fan pundit is keen for his club to pursue the Sunderland midfielder Dan Neil, who's fallen from favour at the Stadium of Light.

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…

2025 has turned out to be a year of two halves for the Sunderland midfielder Dan Neil.

The 2024-25 season ended with him celebrating as his boyhood club secured a return to the Premier League after beating Sheffield United in the EFL Championship play-off final.

But skip forward to the end of this year and things are looking rather different for the 24-year-old.

The Black Cats spent heavily in a summer rebuild of their first-team squad in preparation for their return to the top-flight, and while this couldn't have gone much better for the club, it's had an extremely negative impact on Neil, who's largely been frozen out of the first team since promotion.

All of this raises the question of whether the most prudent thing for Sunderland to do with the player in January might be to send him out on loan back to the Championship in order for the player to get a little more game-time - although his contract is actually set to come to an end at the end of the current season.

There'd certainly be interest in the availability of a player who was instrumental in helping a club win promotion just last season, and among these could be West Bromwich Albion, who've had a bitty start to the 2025-26 season under new head coach Ryan Mason.

"One I'd like to see Albion pursue" - West Brom urged to move for Dan Neil in January

With all of this in mind, Football League World have spoken to our resident West Bromwich Albion fan pundit Callum Burgess about whether Albion should pursue Dan Neil in the January transfer window, and Callum is enthusiastic for Albion to make this move.

"I think that central midfield is a position that West Brom need to target in January. I think that Dan Neil would be a very good addition," Callum told FLW.

"When you consider that outside of Alex Mowatt, Albion are definitely lacking midfielders who can get their foot on the ball, and don't show any quality with the ball at their feet, whether it's dictating possession or keeping the game ticking."

Callum believes that Neil would be an excellent fit into West Brom's central midfield alongside Alex Mowatt, and that this could be a combination that would work excellently for his team, and also spies an opportunity for West Brom to potentially get Neil's services on a permanent basis, should any loan to the club be successful.

"I think that Mowatt and Neil would very quickly become a cemented partnership in central midfield, and I think that's a very solid midfield as well because Neil's got plenty of energy and I think he's technically decent with the ball as well," Burgess added.

"So that's one that I'd like to see Albion pursue, especially on loan for the rest of the season.

"I believe his contract is due to expire quite soon, so it might be one where Albion might look to see how he does in these next few months and then look to secure his signature on a permanent basis as well."

Dan Neil has fallen from favour at Sunderland - a West Brom move could work well for all parties

West Bromwich Albion's biggest issue throughout the 2025-26 season so far has been establishing any consistency.

They had a four-match winning run at the very start of the season and a somewhat less welcome run of four games without a win at the end of October, but otherwise they've seemed unable to build up a head of steam. A 1-0 defeat at Hull City leaves them 16th in the Championship table at Christmas, an underwhelming performance going by the standards of the club.

Given the midfield issues that our West Brom fan pundit identifies, Dan Neil could be a perfect piece of recruitment in the upcoming transfer window.

He made 47 appearances in the Championship and the play-offs for Sunderland last season, so there's no doubting his experience at this level, but he's been limited this season to a couple of very brief substitute appearances in the Premier League and one full outing in the EFL Cup.

As a local lad who's made more than 130 appearances in the Championship for the Black Cats, Neil may be reluctant to leave the Stadium of Light and prefer to try and play for a place back in their starting eleven.

But having played so little Premier League football for them so far this season, a step back down to the Championship for the second half of this season would certainly make sense for Neil, while West Brom's consistency issues could make them a perfect candidate for a player whose second half of this year has looked almost nothing whatsoever like his first.