Reader’s Corner: Why Sunderland’s Europa League Squad Is a Transfer Balancing Act

Want to have your say on all things Sunderland AFC?

Well, you too can wiggle your finger in the air over here at Roker Report’s Reader’s Corner! To get involved, simply drop us an email – RokerReport@Yahoo.co.uk – with your views (between 500-800 words) and we’ll publish them on the site!

Want to have your say on all things Sunderland AFC?

Well, you too can wiggle your finger in the air over here at Roker Report’s Reader’s Corner! To get involved, simply drop us an email – RokerReport@Yahoo.co.uk – with your views (between 500-800 words) and we’ll publish them on the site!

As the summer rumbles on, there is an increasing sense of frustration among the Wearside faithful over how quiet Sunderland’s transfer window has been so far. Even the faces of some of those who, weeks ago, preached patience are beginning to show the first signs of concern.

After the whirlwind of last summer was followed by such an exciting season, supporters can be forgiven for wanting to see the club splash the cash in the hope of making a big success of our first foray into Europe in 52 years. However, in spite of how exciting the prospect of Europa League football at the Stadium of Light is, it does come with the caveat of strict regulations around balance in the squad. It is a complex puzzle to solve, but I will endeavour to explain the conundrum facing Florent Ghisolfi as he looks to plot Sunderland’s summer.

First, it’s important to outline what, exactly, the rules are around Europa League squad make-up.

Clubs submit two lists of players: List A and List B.

List B is the most straightforward. To qualify, a player must have been born on or after 1 January 2005 and also have been eligible to play for the club for two uninterrupted years since turning 15. As Sunderland’s recent success has predominantly been built on exploiting the European market, there isn’t currently a big academy representation in the first team. As such, Chris Rigg is the only current first-team regular eligible for List B. The rest will be made up of players from the youth set-up.

<

It is worth noting that, for Europa League games, a club can name up to 12 substitutes, meaning the likes of Fin Geragusian, Timur Tutierov and Marcus Neil are likely to be regular fixtures in matchday squads – not an unlikely reason they have all recently signed new deals at the club.

Where it gets complicated is with List A. A club can name 25 players on List A, but a minimum of eight have to be association-trained; that is, they must have spent three full seasons with a club in the same national association between the ages of 15 and 21. Furthermore, a minimum of four of the eight have to have been club-trained – spending three seasons at Sunderland between the same ages. If you don’t have the players to fill the quota, then you have to leave gaps for them, reducing the total number from 25 accordingly. Thus, Sunderland can have a maximum of 17 players who had their formative years outside of England.

In terms of club-trained players for List A, Sunderland currently only have one – Anthony Patterson – and so will only currently be able to name a maximum List A of 22. Furthermore, it is likely Patterson leaves this summer, reducing that number to 21. Now, for many, it may seem logical to keep Patterson at the expense of Melker Ellborg to free up an international slot, but as has already been well explained elsewhere, the financial value of selling Patterson this summer means it’s likely the club will look to cash in.

<

Now, there is not much the club can do about this in the short term other than launching surprising bids to bring old academy graduates back. This may look like poor planning, but the hierarchy can be forgiven considering how much faster Sunderland’s development has been than the vast majority would have thought possible. The club’s retention of its top academy prospects, alongside its longer-term investment in the academy, can give us all confidence that they are planning for a much larger academy presence in the future.

For association-trained players, Sunderland currently have six – Simon Moore, Luke O’Nien, Dan Ballard, Leo Hjelde, Aji Alese and Romaine Mundle. It is inevitable that Sunderland will reduce their current cohort here, with Leo Hjelde and Aji Alese almost certain to move on and question marks over Romaine Mundle’s long-term future at the club. It is also not impossible that the club leaves out Simon Moore from the Europa League squad to free up another space if targets are available.

However, if Sunderland are to exploit this group, then they would likely be looking to sign English players – a market this ownership group have not overly looked to exploit given the premium often attached to those players. But I would not be surprised to see a fringe player brought in from another club who would fit into this category.

The biggest issue to solve is the international players. Sunderland’s current squad contains 21. There are some inevitable departures and squad exemptions here in Jenson Seelt, Arthur Masuaku, Alan Browne and Abdoullah Ba (yes, he is still a Sunderland player). However, that still means players would need to be left out or moved on if Sunderland are to bring in more talent from abroad.

What is more interesting is that the vast majority of links with Sunderland this summer have been to players from abroad. Simon Adingra seems the next most likely to leave, but with Régis Le Bris’ latest comments that the club are looking to bring in “six or seven” new players, it seems inevitable that someone unexpected will miss out. The question of who does so adds another complex layer to the picture. It is not simply a case of adding to the group, but replacing members of the group – meaning Ghisolfi will have to be absolutely sure that a player can contribute more now than the player they are replacing.

Expect Sunderland to max out their non-association-trained squad spots and add to that a three or four-man home-grown contingent, making up Le Bris’ core 20-21 alongside Chris Rigg, with the rest of the squad contribution coming from List B.

This small room to manoeuvre in getting the squad balance right means that it is imperative Florent Ghisolfi gets the right players in – players who will contribute most to Sunderland’s campaign both domestically and in Europe. Although frustrating as it is for fans, patience will be key as Ghisolfi ensures he gets the right deals at the right time to continue our charge forward.