“Surely could hold out for a bit more” – The £10m touted fee for Sunderland star amid Wolves and Leicester interest: The verdict | OneFootball

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Football League World

·6 February 2023

“Surely could hold out for a bit more” – The £10m touted fee for Sunderland star amid Wolves and Leicester interest: The verdict

Article image:“Surely could hold out for a bit more” – The £10m touted fee for Sunderland star amid Wolves and Leicester interest: The verdict

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson is reportedly attracting interest from Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers.


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According to The Sun’s Alan Nixon, the Premier League duo are both keeping tabs on Patterson and the Black Cats could cash in on him if they fail to secure promotion this season, valuing him at around £10 million.

The 22-year-old established himself as the number one between the sticks at the Stadium of Light last season and he has remained a regular this campaign, starting every league game so far.

We asked some of our FLW writers whether they thought £10 million was a fair valuation for Patterson.

James Reeves

Given that this is Patterson’s first full season as Sunderland’s first choice, he is probably not worth £10 million at this point.

But in today’s market with inflated prices and with three years left on his contract at the Stadium of Light, the Black Cats are well within their rights to demand a significant fee for a player with his potential.

They could arguably raise his price tag even further and Harry Souttar’s recent move to Leicester for around £15 million shows how much the Foxes are willing to offer for talent in the second tier, so Sunderland could probably convince them to pay around the same for Patterson.

The Black Cats will be reluctant to lose Patterson and they will want to ensure they are significantly compensated if they do, so £10 million feels like a fair valuation.

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Marcus Ally

Sunderland are a club heading in the right direction, and they are in a great position financially to receive interest in Patterson, with three years remaining on his deal on Wearside at the end of this season.

Premier League clubs are at such a financial advantage compared to sides in the second tier, that the Black Cats can charge them a premium, and with Leicester certainly in need of a new goalkeeper, Sunderland are right to begin with a very high asking price.

Patterson has a very good level of experience for his age, and has been on a remarkable journey since spending time in the National League on loan last season, and has stepped up to the second tier with ease.

He is not Premier League ready in my eyes, and for that reason, an asking price of £10 million could see top-flight clubs look at other targets, which in reality would not be the worst outcome for Sunderland.

Young goalkeepers with a lot of Championship experience are hard to come by, and Patterson has certainly made the most of his chances in the last 12 months.

The 22-year-old has gone from strength to strength in-between the sticks at the Stadium of Light and he is part of a side that is gunning for promotion to the Premier League, and part of that is down to his abilities.

He is not the finished article by any means, but with the age that he is he has a long career ahead of him and he could keep goal for Sunderland for so many years.

The £10 million valuation is very fair and I’d argue that Sunderland surely could hold out for a bit more as goalkeepers are harder to come by than most positions – in an ideal world though they will not want to cash in whatsoever.

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