Sunderland AFC could use Australian to sort big Black Cats issue: View | OneFootball

Sunderland will hope the surprise result against Leeds United on Tuesday evening can help them finish this 2023/24 season in the best possible way.

The campaign has been a very frustrating one for the Black Cats, as they had expectations to do similar to what they achieved last season.

However, for various reasons, that hasn’t happened, and this summer looks set to be very important for the club in terms of moving forward, as a new manager needs to be appointed and players could be set to leave.

Sunderland have a very young squad on their hands, and the club will continue going down this route, with players at the club currently on loan elsewhere seeing it as a chance to come back and prove why they should be in the team for next season.

One player who has spent a bit of time elsewhere and could, in fact, still have a big role to play in Sunderland’s team is defender Nectarios Triantis.

The young player was sent out on loan to Scottish side Hibernian in January, and given how that has gone, he could be a long-term answer to a problem the Black Cats are now facing.

Nectarios Triantis joined Hibernian on loan in January

Nectarios Triantis started his football career in his home country of Australia, and after playing for Western Sydney and the Central Coast, he was snapped up by Sunderland in the summer transfer window.

The 20-year-old joined the club relatively unknown, as he had never played in England before, but the Wearsiders were obviously left impressed by his performances in Australia.

The centre-back had to be patient in the early part of this season, and when January came around, the club decided to send the player on loan to Scottish Premiership side Hibernian.

This has turned out to be a good move for the player and Sunderland, as he has seen a lot of action in Scotland, and given where he is performing, he could potentially solve an issue the Championship side is facing.

Sunderland could solve their midfield issue with the return of Nectarios Triantis

Sunderland will likely look to be active once again this summer, with a few key positions needing to be addressed.

One area is in midfield, as the Black Cats do have players for that position, but they are not blessed with a lot of options.

The club brought in Callum Styles from Barnsley in January, but that hasn’t gone quite to plan, and that deal may not be made permanent. While they have Jay Matete, but he was shipped out on loan to Oxford United.

That has meant players like Dan Neil and Pierre Ekwah have been heavily relied upon, so it is a key area that needs strengthening, but the club could potentially save themselves some money with Nectarios Triantis’ loan spell at Hibernian.

Sunderland signed Triantis as a central defender, and he has played that position for most of his short career, but since he joined the Scottish side, he has been used further up the pitch.

In fact, Hibs have decided to use the Australian as a holding midfielder, with him playing in that position in their last three league games.

During that time, Hibs have only managed one victory, but Triantis seems to have impressed and taken to the holding midfield role well.

The 20-year-old has started seven of the 10 games he has played with Hibs, during which time he has created one big chance for his teammates and collected 0.6 key passes, as per Sofascore.com.

But Triantis will be judged more on his defensive work, and he has impressed in that department as well.

The Sunderland loanee has made 0.3 interceptions per game, as well as 1.5 tackles, and has recovered the ball 3.7 times, helping the team keep one clean sheet while on the pitch, as per Sofascore.com.

There is obviously a difference between playing holding midfield for Hibernian and playing it at Sunderland, but given he is only 20, Traintis has still got plenty of time to develop and become more familiar with and better in the role.

Furthermore, he could potentially save the Black Cats from signing two midfielders this summer, and it just gives whoever the new Sunderland boss is going to be another option in the midfield area, as Traintis looks very comfortable in that role.