Chances of player returning to Sunderland AFC becomes clearer | OneFootball

The Black Cats' youngster looks like he will stay put this winter.

Sunderland loanee goalkeeper Matty Young is expected to stay at Salford City after previous suggestions that they were going to review their position on him in January.

More than four months into his first EFL loan spell, Young finally made his first league start for Salford last night in their 2-0 win over Harrogate Town.

The 18-year-old had deputised for Jamie Jones for the whole of the 2024/25 League Two campaign until Tuesday night, with his only appearances before then coming in the cup competitions.

He wasn't being favoured by the Ammies' boss Karl Robinson, and with Sunderland having high hopes for his future, as was represented by the new contract he signed with them which will keep him on Wearside until the summer of 2028, they were ready to consider pulling him out of Salford and bringing him back to the northeast in January, according to Alan Nixon.

Now that starting opportunities in the league look more likely with the fourth tier side, Sunderland's position on his current loan has shifted too.

Sunderland to let Matty Young stay at Salford City

With Young now expected to be Robinson's first choice between the sticks, the Black Cats are willing to let him see out the remainder of his scheduled season-long loan move with Salford, according to the Sunderland Echo.

The teenager shone in his first League Two start for City. He made an early double save to keep Harrogate at bay, giving his outfield teammates a reliable base to build off and eventually get a two-goal lead.

Despite his showing, Robinson wasn't overly impressed by what Young had done. "It wasn't, though (an impressive double save, because he should have held onto the first one,"said the Salford manager.

An FA Cup third round draw away at Manchester City can be at least partially attributed to Young as well. He kept a clean sheet against Cheltenham in the second round last weekend to help to get them into the draw. It remains to be seen whether he will be rewarded for his showings in the earlier rounds with a start against the Premier League champions.

The Matty Young scenario looks like it should work out well for Sunderland

When you send a young player out on loan, you want them to develop and the typical way of doing that is by playing games, not just being involved in first-team training sessions.

The Black Cats believe that their teenage glovesman has a lot of potential, so they can't afford to waste a season of his career by having him somewhere else only playing once a month at the most. If his bench appearances were to have carried on, it would have made total sense to end his loan spell early.

Now that Young appears to be Salford's number one, we can start to see more of what has got Sunderland so excited about him.