Sunderland trigger one-year option to retain Luke Bell after season-long injury | OneFootball

Sunderland have triggered a one-year option to retain defender Luke Bell after his season-long absence through injury, Sunderland Echo understands.

Bell will remain at the Academy of Light for at least another year after the club moved to extend his deal, despite missing the entire campaign. He suffered a serious knee injury at the back end of last season while training with the first team.

The move reflects Sunderland’s practice of supporting young players through long-term setbacks, with welfare and duty of care treated as priorities.

Before the blow he had progressed well with the U21s and was considered among the academy’s more promising central defenders. In 2024-25 he made 25 appearances across all competitions, including 15 in Premier League 2, three in the Premier League Cup, four in the Premier League International Cup, two in the National League Cup and one in the PL2 play-offs. He scored once and played more than 2,000 minutes.

U21s lead coach Graeme Murty outlined last August that Bell had suffered a traumatic knee injury near the end of a first-team training session, would be out for an extended period, and that staff across medical and sports science were in place to support his return.

Source: Sunderland Echo