No Surprises On Sunderland's Retained List

Sunderland today announced their retained list, confirming which players will leave the club on free transfers as of July 1st and be free to sign wherever they wish.

The list has thrown up absolutely no shocks as Titus Bramble and Matt Kilgallon head the list of players who's contracts have ended and will not be offered a new one. Also on the list is Adam Reed, Ryan Noble and Ben Wilson while Danny Rose and Kader Mangane's departures are also confirmed.

Bramble and Kilgallon where never going to get new deals after being deemed not up to the task of Premier League football. Kilgallon should find work easy to come across at a Championship level while it's reported that Bramble is set to try his luck across the pond in the MLS.

Reed, Noble and Wilson all leave the club with unfulfilled promise. Noble was once touted as the future of our attacking line, but his failure to develop physically kept him back, as did his reluctance to test himself on loan at a high level. A move to someone such as Hartlepool, where he has spent two loan spells, is likely although Hearts in the SPL were sniffing about him in January.

Adam Reed was loaned here, there and everywhere but failed to make a single appearance for the club. He's reportedly already in talks with York City over a permanent move. As for Wilson, League Two or the Conference will likely be his level after failing to oust Jordan Pickford as the club's third choice 'keeper.

Rose will likely be a top priority in the transfer market this summer if we can pry him from Daniel Levy's cold dead hands for a reasonable price, and as for Kader Mangane it's farewell, we hardly knew thee and likely never will.

The full retained list for next season (or quite simply, players currently with professional contract at the club) is as follows;

Simon Mignolet, Keiren Westwood, Jordan Pickford, Joel Dixon,Phil Bardsley, Carlos Cuellar, Wes Brown, John O'Shea, David Ferguson, Scott Harrison, Liam Marrs, Connor Oliver, John Egan, Louis Laing, Jordan Watson, Lee Cattermole, Sebastian Larsson, Craig Gardner, Jack Colback, David Vaughan, Alfred N'Diaye, Adam Johnson, James McClean, Ahmed Elmohamady, Stephane Sessegnon, Alejandro Gorrin, Billy Knott, Adam Mitchell, Craig Lynch, George Honeyman, Steven Fletcher, Danny Graham, Connor Wickham, Mikael Mandron, Ji Dong-won, Jordan Laidler.

A hell of a lot of young players there along with those expected to leave very soon just goes to highlight the need for further reinforcement this summer.