Transfer news: Robin Nicholls and Kristjaan Speakman complete their double departure from Sunderland – recap

The most recent Sunderland transfer news and stories from across the internet.

Following two straight losses to Huddersfield Town and Birmingham City in the Championship, supporters have put a lot of pressure on Sunderland’s head coach, Michael Beale.

After the January transfer window closed, there was some intriguing transfer activity, despite Sunderland’s performance on the field. Here, we go over the major stories you might have missed:

Matty Young is loaned out.

Matty Young, a highly regarded young player from Sunderland, has been given the chance to experience life as a senior after going on a short-term loan to National League North team Darlington.

The England Under-19 international made his debut for the Quakers against a South Shields team led in the interim by former Sunderland academy manager Elliott Dickman on Friday after completing the necessary legalities of moving to Blackwell Meadows. Darlington prevailed 4-0.

With this move, Young will travel down a similar route as Premier League winner Kasper Schmeichel and former Black Cats goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who both spent time on loan at Darlington in their early career development before going on to succeed at the greatest level of the game. Young was included in Sunderland’s preseason roster for the previous year’s US tour.

Zak Johnson leaves on loan as well.
Sunderland backman Zak Johnson returned from Hartlepool United earlier this season and signed a loan with Dundalk in Ireland.

In September of last year, the 19-year-old signed a one-month loan agreement with Pools, which was later extended until January. Johnson joined Sunderland’s first team for their preseason US tour, and he played in 12 games during his time at the Suit Direct Stadium. In August, he also began for Sunderland against Crewe in the EFL Cup.