The Sunderland academy starlet ready to replace key first team player amid summer exit talk

Three games. Two hundred and seventy minutes of football. If reports and gut feelings are to be believed, that is all the time Sunderland may have left before Jack Clarke is prised away from them this summer. One way or another, it has always felt as if the winger would be a Premier League player by the beginning of next season, and with the Black Cats on course for a thoroughly drab mid-table finish, the widespread assumption on Wearside is that the talismanic attacker is destined for a big money exit.

He may not, however, be the only one. Alongside Clarke, Sunderland continue to face simmering interest in the likes of Dan Neil, Dan Ballard, Trai Hume, and, according to recent whispers, Anthony Patterson. The young goalkeeper is said to be a target for Liverpool, who could be in the market for an understudy to Brazilian number one Alisson Becker if longtime deputy Caoimhin Kelleher is finally allowed to seek first team football elsewhere in the coming months.

And if the Reds do make good on their apparent courtship, then Sunderland could be left with a huge vacuum to fill between the sticks. Indeed, for the sake of context, it is worth reiterating that Patterson has now played 105 games in a row for his boyhood club, and that as of last week’s stalemate with Leeds United, only three goalkeepers in the Championship had a higher prevented xG tally than the 23-year-old.

To worsen things further, neither Nathan Bishop or Alex Bass, Sunderland’s other recognisable senior goalkeeping options, have shown anything to suggest that they could seamlessly replace Patterson. As such, a new acquisition would be likely. Unless, of course, the Black Cats went with the rogue option.

Matty Young is just 17 years old. He won’t be 18 until November. For the past couple of months, however, he has been out on loan in the National League North with Darlington. In the 13 appearances that he has made for the Quakers, the teenager has kept four clean sheets, conceded 13 goals, and been on the winning side on 10 separate occasions. The impact that he has made in County Durham has been so profound, in fact, that you would imagine when he is eventually old enough to drink, it will be quite a while before he has to buy himself a pint in Darlo or the surrounding area.

While it may not always be the most exact or reliable science, a quick read of supporter reaction to his departure from the non-league club would suggest that the youngster (that’s not a lame nickname, by the way) is a special talent. The people of Darlington are in a state of earnest lament, and those who have seen Young first hand seem entirely convinced that it is only a matter of time before he establishes himself as Sunderland’s undisputed first choice.

Now, evidently, the ideal situation would be to bring him back to his parent club and allow him to grow in the shadow of Patterson for a year or two before promoting him upon his teammate’s eventual exit. Like a conveyor belt of Mackem stoppers, if you will. But with the bigger boys circling and rumours abound, there could very swiftly come a point at which Sunderland’s process is rushed by factors beyond their control.

If that happens, maybe they should consider giving Young a chance. Yes, he is absurdly, well, young, but the common consensus is that he plays with a composed self-assurance that vastly belies his tender age, and it is not as if the Black Cats have any qualms about trusting the kids in any other area of the pitch.

Maybe the starlet will get his shot at the Stadium of Light sooner rather than later, or maybe he will be made to wait. Maybe he will be sent out to a Football League club ahead of next season so that he can continue to develop on the steep trajectory that he has effortlessly assumed in recent weeks. Only time will tell, but one thing is for certain; whenever he is needed, Sunderland already have their Patterson successor lurking in the wings.