Just last week, reports began to emerge that clubs in England and Germany were interested in signing none other than our star youngster Lewis Miley.
With a first team space certainly in his impending future, and having captained the England U19s during the most recent international break, the transfer rumour seemed like a peculiar one to begin with.
But now, a former Sunderland scout has made some further claims to the media over the Miley rumour, trying to justify why we may part ways with the 18-year-old.
Writing in Football Inside, former Sunderland scout Mick Brown believes that Miley may be the latest casualty of the club trying to create some PSR breathing room by selling homegrown talent.
“Eddie Howe has got to make a big decision. The lad has come through the academy system, he’s done well, but can he go on and cement himself in the side to make them a better team?
“If the answer to that is no, and I have a feeling it might be when you look at the options they’ve got in his position, they could look to move him on.”
“Whatever he is sold for would be pure profit, and we know how valuable that is, so if they get a big offer they might have no choice but to accept it.”
Brown later likens this Miley ‘dilemma’ to what Manchester United are currently experiencing with Kobbie Mainoo: a local lad with frequent first team appearances, but with tremendous potential both as a player on the pitch but also as a sellable asset.
Even if Fabrizio Romano has linked Miley with a move elsewhere in the Premier League or even abroad to the Bundesliga, it’s unlikely such a move would actually come to fruition.
Eddie Howe and the rest of the club will be keen to avoid a repeat of this past summer, when Elliot Anderson was unfortunately sold to Nottingham Forest in order to avoid a PSR-related points penalty.
Our finances are understood to be in a much healthier state than they were last summer, owing to different departures and increased revenue streams, plus the guaranteed return of European football next season.
Additionally, when looking at the current Toon midfield, Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock both fall below Miley in terms of the midfield hierarchy and are far more likely to go to depart this summer.
The need to maintain a deep, competitive squad next season, with at least six extra games guaranteed through some form of European football, it would be a disastrous move from us if we were to let a potential future captain of this great club leave when he will have a starring role to play.
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