Sunderland may be facing a Tommy Watson repeat with “first-class” star

Sunderland’s reputation for gifting plenty of homegrown youngsters chances in the first team mix has taken a backseat this season.

Regis Le Bris must have realised this young and hungry approach had to be altered slightly when competing in the Premier League, with experience preferred in the summer, notably splashing out £13m on midfielder Granit Xhaka.

That isn’t to say there isn’t any space for some homegrown prodigies to still try and shine in his starting XIs, though, with Chris Rigg – who had a breakout senior season under the Frenchman last campaign – featuring from the start against Brighton and Hove Albion last time out.

Rigg even crossed paths with another starlet first given senior chances to impress at the Stadium of Light at the Amex in Tommy Watson, with the 19-year-old’s first team journey on Wearside going down as a surreal blur.

Watson’s whirlwind Sunderland story

In a summer that saw Sunderland win a mighty £32m from selling Jobe Bellingham to Borussia Dortmund, Watson’s sale to Brighton and Hove Albion managed to fly under the radar.

Still, a sizable £10m came the Black Cats’ way for the raw attacker, despite only 921 minutes of senior football being handed to him at his boyhood club.

There were some obvious standout moments, though, as Watson ended up scoring that ​​​​​​unbelievable strike at Wembley to secure Sunderland’s emotional passage back to the Premier League.

Watson will forever be immortalised as the hero who sealed the Black Cats’ dramatic return to the Premier League, but that magical moment must have been tinged with some bittersweetness, as the number 40 knew he had already committed to a switch to the Seagulls when scoring that sweet strike.

Sadly, since leaving, game time hasn’t yet come his way at the Amex with EFL Cup appearances here and there all he has been thrown so far on the South Coast.

But, away from the England U21 international’s ongoing story, Le Bris will be fearful that another Watson-style situation is playing out in front of him right now.

Sunderland facing a Watson repeat

Forking out a lofty £162m on a whole host of top-flight proven talents this summer has come with some drawbacks, as Le Bris now has to contend with keeping the vast majority of his bloated camp content.

Heading into the new Premier League season after promotion, Eliezer Mayenda would have been hopeful that he would be given plenty of opportunities to dazzle after playing a key role in Sunderland’s promotion story, alongside Watson.

Sky Sports pundit Luke Chambers would even hail him as a “first class” EFL talent last season when firing home ten goals, two of which came in the nerve-wracking playoffs, with the Spain U21 international’s versatile nature to play as a striker, or as a winger, also making him a strong squad option to have, when embarking on a survival mission in the league above.

It’s unfortunately not played out like that in reality, with Mayenda left rooted to the substitutes bench across his team’s last four games, as Championship sides such as Leicester City are tipped to sign him on loan in January.

This has surely felt even more cruel on Mayenda’s end, considering he bagged Sunderland’s first goal back in the Premier League, only to now be discarded for flashier signings that have arrived at the Stadium of Light.

Consequently, a Watson-style scenario could soon play out, with the Zaragoza-born forward once allegedly a target for Premier League sides, even before Sunderland’s dramatic day out to Wembley occurred.

If Mayenda were to show off the same electric form that helped the Black Cats move back up to the promised land with a new loan employer, it might not be the wildest suggestion in the world to state that a top-flight club could take a gamble and offer Sunderland a very tempting offer down the line, like Brighton’s £10m splurge on Watson.

With the Africa Cup of Nations also making Le Bris’ first team options fewer, it does feel as if the Premier League newcomers are missing out by not handing the 20-year-old more senior shots to impress, with a hope his impatience doesn’t lead to him walking out on Le Bris’ men prematurely.

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