Sunderland cannot afford for Chelsea to make transfer U-turn: Opinion | OneFootball

Highlights

Sunderland are no strangers to a late change in mind of a Premier League team, and they could fall victim of it again.

Sunderland's manager Tony Mowbray revealed that current Black Cats striker Mason Burstow has an option in his loan deal that allows his parent club to recall him in January.

Burstow hasn't exactly hit the ground running in the northeast.

He's yet to score in the league and has actually struggled to get shots off at all, having only gotten off six attempts on goal since joining, according to Sofascore.

The 20-year-old isn't the only Sunderland striker who has been misfiring though.

From the few options that they do have at the position, not one of their out-and-out strikers have found the back of the net yet, in the Championship. That is concerning given the club's ambitions.

Sunderland also know the pain of losing a Premier League loan striker in January. Ellis Simms leaving in January was, arguably, one of the big things that stopped the Black Cats from getting back to the Premier League.

Granted, Simms contributed nine combined goals and assists before he was recalled, the same of which can't be said for the Chelsea loanee. But they need options, and Burstow has shown that he has quality in those feet.

How likely is Mason Burstow to leave Sunderland in January?

The situations of the two parent clubs are very different. Everton (Simms' parent club) were in a bit of a dire state when it came to options up front.

They had one of their players being successful in the Championship, so it made all the sense in the world to bring him back.

Chelsea, on the other hand, despite spending over £1 billion on transfers since Todd Boehly arrived in London and not having an established striker, are in a much better league, and goalscoring, position than the Toffees.

If Burstow were to be recalled, it wouldn't make sense unless he was being sent out on loan to a different team.

That's the possibility that should unsettle Sunderland fans a bit.

The Black Cats' boss doesn't see the 20-year-old returning permanently to London before the end of the season. Mowbray said: "I'm expecting him (Burstow) to be here for the season. I'm sure there will be a recall in there - every loan these days seems to have a recall (clause)."

What impact would losing Mason Burstow have on Sunderland?

Even though Burstow hasn't kicked on yet, losing him in January would be tough for Mowbray and his side.

He's clearly the boss' preferred number nine, having started in seven of his eight league games.

There's reason behind that as well. Burstow's 10 goals in 25 games in the Premier League 2, last season, and two goals as an 18-year-old for Charlton Athletic, in the 2021/22 season, show that he has the quality to be a good striker.

The rebuttal to that would be that the Premier League 2 and the Championship are so vastly different, especially when it comes to physicality.

But Sunderland aren't like many second tier sides of years gone by. Their style of football is probably closer to what's played in the PL2 than it is to most teams in the Championship.

He's shown that he can work in this type of tactical system where he's surrounded by other young players, which is what the Black Cats' side was made up of.

If Burstow were to be recalled, it'd leave them even shorter up top, having lost the manager's current favorite number nine, and they'd be left scrambling to find a replacement, again, in January; the same as what they were doing for most of the summer when they had to try and replace Amad Diallo.