Sunderland could look to Sheffield United for potential Corry Evans replacement but face issues: View | OneFootball

With Corry Evans set to depart Sunderland this summer after three years at the club, the Black Cats hierarchy should be looking for an experienced midfielder to fill the void.

It has not been officially announced that Evans will leave the club, but Football Insider have reported the Northern Ireland international has not been offered fresh terms with the club upon the expiration of his contract.

The 33-year-old has struggled with injuries over the last year-and-a-half, having suffered a serious knee injury in January 2023, but was an influential figure for the Black Cats previously, and someone with his leadership and experience needs to be replaced.

The perfect replacement could come in signing fellow free agent and his international team-mate Oliver Norwood, who will see his six-year spell at Sheffield United come to an end this summer - although signing Norwood might be easier said than done for Sunderland.

Ollie Norwood would be a perfect replacement for Corry Evans at Sunderland

Norwood joined Sheffield United in 2018 and has been part of a Blades side that has won two promotions to the Premier League, and has played three seasons of Premier League football pretty regylarly.

The 33-year-old is vastly experienced at Championship level, and his nous and experience of winning promotion could be absolutely vital to Sunderland if they harbour any ambition of escaping the second tier of English football in an upwards trajectory.

Just like Evans, Norwood is a Northern Irish international and is a natural leader too - something which has been lacking from Sunderland's squad in Evans' absence.

Sunderland have a very young squad, and whilst Luke O'Nien has done an admirable job of wearing the captain's armband, you feel as if the club are desperately lacking someone of Norwood's mould.

We've seen this season that when the pressure is on, Norwood can step up, and his penalty deep in added time to beat Wolves and give his side their first win of the season in November is a perfect example of that.

Sunderland's recruitment model of signing young players and trying to develop them into players where they can be sold for a lot of money is admirable, but you need experience around them to help them grow, and someone like Norwood certainly would bring the best out of these young players as he drives standards around him.

Sunderland's board may have issues with signing Ollie Norwood

We all know that Sunderland don't usually sign older players, and they instead opt for youngsters who have a potentially high resale value, but the club need to find a compromise.

Their 16th place finish this season showed that it clearly isn't working how they would have liked and both Kristjaan Speakman and Kyril-Louis Dreyfus need to address it this summer.

By all means should Sunderland continue to invest in prospects who they hope will come good, but they should also invest in experience.

These young players would learn more from playing with someone of Ollie Norwood's experience than they would by playing with a fellow youngster, and Norwood could help improve them as a player.

It's not in Sunderland's nature to sign a 33-year-old free agent, but it certainly should be.

The Sunderland board may argue against signing Norwood, especially after they've just released another 33-year-old in the same position, but it's not unfair to say that the Sheffield United man is a superior player to Corry Evans, and the chance to sign an experienced Premier League player shouldn't be passed up.

Wages may also be a sticking point, with Norwood earning an estimated wage of £20,000 a week at Bramall Lane, according to Capology.

Sunderland's current highest earner is Jack Clarke with an estimated wage of £16,923 a week, but with Norwood out of contract, he perhaps won't be able to demand a wage of what he was said to be earning in South Yorkshire, and would perhaps be willing to take a pay cut.

Ollie Norwood certainly isn't your normal Sunderland signing, but the club would be silly not to show some interest in the Sheffield United man this summer, as he could hugely benefit the Black Cats midfield next season.