Mark Donnelly and Phil Smith discussed all things Sunderland during the most recent edition of The Roar podcast from The Sunderland Echo. One of the topics of discussion that came up during the show is the possibility of the Black Cats signing Bailey Wright, who was on loan with the club from Championship side Bristol City for a portion of the 2019/20 campaign.
Wright joined Sunderland on loan from the Robins back in January and made five League One appearances during his time at the Stadium of Light. It may be fair to say that the centre-back made a positive impact on Sunderland’s defence when he played, as the Black Cats kept a clean sheet in four of the five League One games that Wright featured in for the club last season.
As per Transfermarkt, £720k-rated Wright, is now a free agent after his contract with Bristol City expired. Donnelly raised the topic of his future and the possibility that he will return to the Stadium of Light on a permanent basis for next season during this latest edition of The Roar, saying: “There’s been some positive noises on that front over the last week or so – how big of a signing would he be for Sunderland? His injury record can be called into question [but] he did seem to improve that team in that handful of [appearances] he made.”
Smith then shared his thoughts on the possibility of Wright joining Sunderland on a permanent basis for next season following his impressive performances during his loan spell, saying: “I think Bailey’s quality just makes it a little bit of a no-brainer.
“He knows exactly what the manager wants, he understands the system, he understands the environment, he understands the squad, he’s used to the facilities, he’s used to the area, and in the climate that we’re in with the season – it’s going to come into focus very quickly – it’s just one of those deals that feels like a little bit of a no-brainer and everyone that you speak to who’s kind of important in terms of signing players seems to acknowledge that it’s just something that should get done, so yeah, I think that’s one that we can be fairly optimistic about.”
Would Bailey Wright be a good signing for Sunderland?
YES, DEFINITELY
NO, I DON'T THINK SO
TIF Thoughts…
It appears as though Donnelly and Smith believe that Wright showed enough during his loan spell with the Black Cats to have convinced the club of his quality. In addition to that, Smith seems to believe that this is a deal that the North East club could be likely to get done and that may be good news for Sunderland fans, considering the positive impact that he appears to have had on their defence in the games that he played last season.