Man Utd example shows Crystal Palace should look no further than Sunderland: Opinion | OneFootball

Highlights

Following their promotion from League One to the Championship, Sunderland were one of the surprise packages in the division last season.

Whilst nobody thought that the Black Cats would be relegated back to the third tier, not many expected them to go on and achieve a play-off spot, particularly having lost their boss Alex Neil just a few weeks into the season.

The same could arguably be said for Crystal Palace youngster Jesurun Rak-Sakyi during his loan spell at Charlton Athletic last season.

Whilst the then 19-year-old was highly rated, in his first ever foray into regular senior football, not many would have predicted him to do quite so well.

Indeed, in an average Charlton side, Rak-Sakyi scored 15 goals and produced eight assists in League One last campaign, leading to him scooping two awards at the club come the end of the season.

Furthermore, as well as being named Charlton's 'Supporters' Player of the Year' and 'Players' Player of the Year', Rak-Sakyi was also nominated for the EFL's 'Young Player of the Year' award.

Who has been linked with Jesurun Rak-Sakyi this summer?

Naturally, achieving such accolades has seen the youngster attract a lot of attention this summer.

Sunderland, the side mentioned above, have reportedly entered the race recently, for example.

According to Alan Nixon via Patreon, the Black Cats have turned their attention to Rak-Sakyi due to interest from Celtic and Southampton in their own player, Patrick Roberts.

The Black Cats are not the only club to show an interest this summer, though.

Indeed, in recent weeks, the likes of Ipswich Town, Leicester City, Birmingham City, Hull City and Blackburn Rovers have also been credited with an interest in securing Rak-Sakyi for the season ahead.

Man Utd example shows Sunderland may be the best destination for Rak-Sakyi

With a whole host of clubs, and some very big ones interested in Rak-Sakyi this summer, then, Crystal Palace have a real dilemma on their hands in terms of where to send their talented young star.

However, there is a very recent example that Palace can look at that should convince them that Rak-Sakyi could be a real success at Sunderland.

That example is of course Manchester United's Amad Diallo.

After a tricky spell at Rangers in Scotland, Diallo joined Sunderland on a season-long loan last summer, and went on to thrive at the Stadium of Light.

Amad netted 14 goals in 39 Championship appearances in Tony Mowbray's side, as well as registering four assists for the club in those matches.

Such performances led to an EFL 'Young Player of the Season' award nomination in the Championship, too.

Given that Amad played off the right, cutting on to his left foot for Sunderland, and that Rak-Sakyi played off the right for Charlton last season, doing the same with his left, there are certainly parallels there.

Given that, and the fact that Tony Mowbray has shown he is a safe pair of hands to trust when it comes to a young player's development, Crystal Palace should arguably look no further than the Stadium of Light this summer when it comes to deciding upon their Rak-Sakyi transfer dilemma.