The Sunderland player that 62% of fans believe needs to leave first in January transfer window

One of the knock-on effects of Sunderland’s dizzying summer recruitment drive has been the ostracisation of a number of players on the fringes of Regis Le Bris’ first team contingent.

While much has been made of the 14-man, £150 million squad overhaul that accompanied the Black Cats’ long-awaited return to the Premier League, it has also – in essence – consigned several forgotten talents to a kind of ongoing limbo on Wearside.

Despite a whole host of exits from the Stadium of Light, there are still a smattering of senior names who seemingly have no future in the North East, but who are yet to secure an escape route either. The likes of Ian Poveda, Timothee Pembele, Jay Matete, Abdoullah Ba, and Joe Anderson were all signed for the first team but now find themselves out in the cold, while Ahmed Abdullahi – hampered by injuries ever since his arrival – is still yet to make his senior bow in red and white.

Which Sunderland fringe player is the priority to move on in January?

With that in mind, as part of last week’s Big Sunderland Survey, The Echo asked supporters which of that sextet they believe must be the priority for an exit come the new year – and the verdict was fairly resounding.

Of those fans who responded, some 61.9% are of the opinion that Poveda must be offloaded as soon as possible. The winger was signed on a free transfer last summer, but endured an injury-ravaged debut campaign at the Stadium of Light, and has managed just six first team outings since his arrival.

Speaking about Poveda earlier in the season, Black Cats U21s head coach Graeme Murty said: “You can see the talent, you can see he’s got some magic in his feet, and he’s a nightmare in training because he’s so elusive and he’s so jinky, but he works extremely hard. As we’ve always said, we’re a willing vehicle for players who need to remain sharp, who show the right attitude and who want to come and help the young players, and I thought that he was a help to our young players.”

Elsewhere, 15.8% believe that Ba needs to be the next first team outcast to leave Sunderland, with the Frenchman nowhere to be seen over the opening weeks of the campaign. Similarly, fellow absentee Pembele polled 11.3%, while Matete and Anderson registered 5.4% and 4.5% of the vote respectively.

Finally, just 1.2% of supporters believe Abdullahi must be Sunderland’s biggest exit priority, perhaps reflecting a feeling that he is still regarded as a player for the future who is yet to find his feet on Wearside.

Speaking about the striker last month, Le Bris said: “Sometimes Ahmed trains with us, sometimes with the U21s. Ahmed is in this situation. He struggled a bit after his surgery to recover properly. He had ups and downs. Now it seems a bit better, so I hope he will have this consistency in the next weeks. I think so [still has a long-term future here]. He’s really young, he’s talented. He was unlucky to suffer from this injury and didn’t find the the right rhythm. I hope it would be the case in next month and we’ll we’ll see the best version of Ahmed.”