Mark Donnelly, Phil Smith and James Copley discussed all things Sunderland on the latest edition of The Roar Podcast and the journalists spent some time talking about Manchester United academy product Demetri Mitchell, who has been on trial with the Black Cats.
Mitchell departed from Manchester United earlier this summer and as per ChronicleLive, the left-back has been on trial with Sunderland of late.
This article from ChronicleLive explains that the 23-year-old has ‘struggled with a persistent knee injury’ in recent seasons, however, he did get some Black Cats fans talking on social media after he was spotted charging down the left-wing, ‘leaving his marker trailing behind’ in a training video that was recently posted by the Black Cats’ official YouTube channel.
During this recent edition of The Roar Podcast, Smith was asked to comment on how Mitchell has fared during his spell on trial with Sunderland and the journalist said: “He seems to have made a positive impression. I think the tick in his box is he’s not just dropped out of an academy and has never had a taste of senior football, he’s got some games under his belt, hasn’t he, at Hearts and that’s obviously a big tick.
“That, in a nutshell, gets to the heart of what we’ve actually been discussing the whole podcast in terms of where Sunderland are at because of the salary cap.
“Are Sunderland in a position where they can go and get Luke Garbutt or not? And that’s kind of where Demetri Mitchell comes in.”
Would Mitchell be a good signing for Sunderland?
YES
NO
TIF Thoughts…
So, judging by Smith’s comments, it appears that Mitchell has impressed during his time on trial with the North East club following his departure from Manchester United.
However, the reporter did also discuss the possibility that Mitchell is only being lined up as a left-back target for the Black Cats because the club might be unable to sign reported transfer target Luke Garbutt after a salary cap was introduced at League One level.
ChronicleLive recently published an article which discussed the Black Cats’ pursuit of a left-back and compared Garbutt and Mitchell. The report stated that Mitchell ‘is likely to be the cheaper of the pair in terms of wages.’
With that in mind, as well as the fact that Black Cats boss Phil Parkinson was recently quoted as saying that: “one or two players who maybe we thought we could have got last week are not in the market place for us now,” it may be understandable why Smith feels the club may be lining up Mitchell due to their inability to sign Garbutt following the introduction of a salary cap for League One clubs.
However, if the former Manchester United man has impressed during his trial, perhaps he would still not be a bad signing for the club.