The stunning relegated Championship star that Sunderland must consider signing this summer

Another few weeks, and it might well have been Sunderland who were one of the three unfortunates succumbing to the quicksand pull of relegation from the Championship this season. The Black Cats - play-off contenders and promotion hopefuls throughout the early, tentative explorations of the campaign - would ultimately finish just six points clear of the drop zone, with a solitary win in their last five fixtures and a form table that read like a horror story.

The need for a summer rebuild is, therefore, immense. It is not hyperbolic or melodramatic to suggest that without the proper recruitment, Sunderland could quite easily find themselves embroiled in the ugliness of a genuine scrap for survival next year. The Championship is cutthroat, and it does not take much to plummet like lead towards its murkiest depths. Just ask Birmingham City.

There was a time, around the end of September, when the Blues looked as if they could be dark horses in the race to escape from the second tier over the months to come. Nobody could have predicted that they would go on to do it by falling out the bottom of the division.

But now that they are down, it is maybe worth Sunderland considering not only their fable, but also the brightest shining lights of their dressing room. In particular, the Black Cats should really be taking a closer look at Juninho Bacuna.

On his day, the Curacao international has been, by some distance, the most impressive player in a Birmingham shirt this season. A busy, technically adept midfielder capable of operating through the centre or out on the right, his is a versatile talent with the ability to dictate the tempo and direction of matches.

Over the course of a tricky campaign for the Blues writ large, Bacuna contributed seven goals and six assists in 45 outings - equivalent to 26% of his side’s total goals tally. As per Whoscored, only promising full-back Ethan Laird registered a higher average match rating than the midfielder, who was also awarded six Man of the Match awards.

He is, in other words, evidently a player destined for more than a campaign in League One, and Sunderland could do far worse than casting a beady eye over him. The Black Cats were in need of experienced midfield reinforcements even prior to, but especially since, the departure of Corry Evans and Bradley Dack. With 186 appearances to his name, Bacuna knows the division better than most, but at 26, is still very much in the prime of his career.

Ostensibly, then, he ticks a lot of boxes, and not least because you would imagine that, with his contract set to expire in 2025, he could be a viable candidate for a swift, book-balancing departure from St. Andrews.

You suspect, and would like to hope, that Sunderland already have a list of transfer targets long enough to circumnavigate the Stadium of Light twice over this summer. But if Bacuna’s name isn’t already on their radar, then perhaps it should be.