Sunderland journalist Phil Smith has been sharing some insight regarding the possibility of Black Cats winger Jack Diamond leaving the Wearside club on a loan deal this summer.
This comes after Smith made an appearance on a recent edition of The Roar Podcast from the Sunderland Echo, where he spoke about a variety of topics concerning the League One club.
On the subject of Diamond, who was in and out of Sunderland’s senior and U23 team last season, Smith had this to say about the possibility of the winger moving away on loan this summer.
He said: “At the moment, I wouldn’t loan him out, because I think he’s still a viable option.
“But what [Lee] Johnson has alluded to last week was that they are looking at another player in that kind of position, and it’s hard to make judgement, isn’t it, when you don’t know who that player is, because if they’re bringing in a player of a certain profile, then you might say, ‘okay, well, fair enough, let’s loan Diamond out to another League One club for a year so he gets that experience’.
“At the moment, I wouldn’t be doing it, but if they bring in someone of a certain calibre, then it might be worth doing.
“What I would say is that it’s worth stressing that he’s not being loaned out because they don’t rate him, the people behind the scenes at Sunderland have been absolutely clear that they see Jack Diamond as a top-tier player, and may just think that for the short term, he’s better off on loan.”
TIF Thoughts on Phil Smith’s comments on a potential loan move for Diamond…
In our view, given how Diamond has only played 14 minutes of action for Sunderland in League One so far this season and was not in the squad for their recent 1-0 win over AFC Wimbledon, perhaps a loan move away from the club to somewhere he would be playing regularly at senior level would be a beneficial move for him and his career.
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Especially if the club are apparently looking to bring another similar player in and if the senior figures at the club believe Diamond is capable of being an important player for them in the future, this should be encouraging for the youngster.
Moving forward, if Diamond can secure a loan move to another League One club, he can hopefully get some useful experience of regularly playing in the division that he can build on and become an integral part of Sunderland’s team next season and beyond.