January arrival could be playing his final games in a Sunderland AFC shirt: View | OneFootball

Hungarian international Callum Styles signed for Sunderland on loan from Barnsley in the January transfer window.

The 24-year-old has since made 11 first-team appearances for the Black Cats, and has displayed his versatility by playing on either wing and at left-back so far for Mike Dodds' side.

He spent last season on loan at Millwall, featuring 22 times for the Lions in a campaign hampered by injury, but did not make that move permanent last summer.

He instead remained at Barnsley in League One, and made 21 appearances for his parent club in the first half of this season, scoring three goals.

Styles has not nailed down a starting berth at the Stadium of Light, and it seems unlikely that he will stay on at Sunderland despite the club holding an option to buy him in the summer.

Styles' struggles at Sunderland

Often used as a wing-back or midfielder over the years at Barnsley, Styles' stocks rose during the 2020/21 season when the Tykes finished 5th in the Championship under the guidance of Valerien Ismael.

The then 20-year-old won the club's Young Player of the Season award, chipping in with five goals and four assists in all competitions as he became a key figure at Oakwell.

After relegation in 2022/23, Styles joined Millwall on loan - but saw his campaign blighted by a muscle injury that restricted him to just 22 appearances for the Lions.

A successful start to this campaign saw him make the step-up to the second tier yet again, this time with Sunderland, but Styles has struggled to make an impact so far.

On the face of it, his signing seemed to be a perfect fit for the Black Cats' 3-4-3 system, as well as him fitting the criteria of being a younger player that still has room for development.

Instead his time on Wearside has been underwhelming, with one assist in 11 games so far, after he had to wait over three weeks for his debut following a bout of illness.

There have been particular games in which he has struggled, such as the 5-1 home drubbing at the hands of Blackburn Rovers, in which he took up an unfamiliar left-back role that he has played in just five times in his career.

Speaking to the Sunderland Echo on any talks about his future, Styles admitted: "I’ve had no discussions. I’m just focusing on football and that’s for other people to discuss.”

It has been a disappointing campaign on the whole for the Black Cats, after failing to push for the play-offs in the Championship and build on last season's 6th-placed finish.

Mike Dodds has been interim boss since February, after Michael Beale was sacked despite only replacing the departing Tony Mowbray just two months earlier.

Their season has petered out, and this is not solely down to Styles' arrival, but two wins in their last 13 games is not how the 24-year-old would have wanted his loan move to pan out when he joined.

For Sunderland fans, this season will be one to forget, and Styles may well be a player to forget if they want to build for another promotion push next season, especially given that there will be a price tag involved if he is to leave Barnsley this summer.

He has not improved the Sunderland team enough, and even if he produces two outstanding displays in the last two games against Watford and Sheffield Wednesday respectively, it would be in the best interest of both club and player to cut ties and admit it has not worked out.