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Loaning players has become a staple of the modern game and a part of it which Sunderland have fully embraced over the years.
It's a topic which creates debate amongst fans, and rightfully so. Whilst no one is opposed to short-term lifts, it can be detrimental to a club's continuity. West Bromwich Albion are a good recent example considering how losing on-loan Romelu Lukaku made it next to impossible to replicate - or build upon - last season's success.
So, as the summer and, hopefully, survival looms, the question many Sunderland fans are asking is for which of the loanees do the club have a pre-agreed option to buy outright.
The answer is just two - Santiago Vergini and Ondrej Celustka. Of those, only really the former has done enough to justify the further outlay. Expect Vergini to be one of, if not the, first pieces of business the club do once the season is over. Survival-pending, of course.
Ki Sung-Yueng, Fabio Borini and Marcos Alonso will return to their clubs with their futures out of Sunderland's hands.
