Sam Surridge will surely wish he was involved in Sunderland’s exciting promotion race

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On January’s transfer deadline day, Sunderland were on a striker hunt. The Black Cats needed extra firepower to help them in their push for promotion from League One. In the end, they secured Will Grigg from Wigan Athletic in an eye-catching move. But they wanted another, eventually settling for Tottenham loanee Kazaiah Sterling.

One of the players Sunderland were targeting was Bournemouth talent, Sam Surridge. The 20-year-old had scored 12 goals in 20 games on loan at Oldham Athletic. Such form attracted suitors.

The player himself later confirmed to the Bournemouth Echo that he was prepared to join Sunderland until the end of the season:

“With the Sunderland situation, I was ready to go until Thursday (deadline day) but we did not know if I was going to be allowed out.

“It was one of those things I put at the back of my mind. If it happened, it happened but the gaffer wanted me to stay and I wanted to stay. I wanted to keep pushing myself and see what I could do.”

In the end, he did remain at Dean Court and is a part of the first-team picture. However, he has played just 10 minutes of football since and must surely be wondering how he might have helped Sunderland in their promotion push.

With just three games left, Sunderland are right in the mix along with Barnsley and Portsmouth, their next opponents.

As much as Surridge will be enjoying training with the Bournemouth first-team, he must surely be wishing he was a part of this exciting promotion battle instead. Sunderland fans will no doubt wish he was in their ranks, as he might have been the difference between automatic promotion and the play-offs.