Academy prospect’s fine form is attracting SPL interest - are Sunderland set to lose him?

Tom Beadling has been in good form since securing a loan move away from the club. Playing in five games and scoring one goal for Dunfermline Athletic, the vocal defender has been impressive after being given a regular run of senior football in which to prove his worth.

The Pars are very much in contention for a play-off position thanks in part to Beadling’s impressive displays, and that hasn’t gone unnoticed.

A source close to the player has told Roker Report that Beadling’s impressive displays north of the border are beginning to attract attention, both from his current club and SPL sides keen to see if they could potentially lure the young defender-cum-midfielder away from the north east of England.

Subsequently, Beadling now finds himself in an interesting situation whereby over the course of the coming months he may well have to choose between potential SPL or League One football come season’s end.

Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images

Beadling’s deal with the club runs out at the end of this season, so could the club lose the talented youngster for next to nothing once thay time rolls around?

It’s likely that the club will be keen to offer Beadling some kind of new deal considering the fact that the vast majority of our squad will be decimated in the summer, but will Beadling want to remain at a club that have done little to help advance his development?

It has been noted on this site before that the club’s attempts at developing young talent have been lacking to say the least in recent years, and having never been afforded the chance to prove his worth in a side desperately struggling at the foot of the Championship table, Beadling would be well within his rights in looking for guaranteed senior football elsewhere.

Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images

With League One football looking ever more likely for Sunderland next season, keeping young prospects like Tom Beadling on the club’s books should be something we look to prioritize.

Beadling might not be a star in the making, but he has proved himself adept in a physically imposing league, and would certainly be a solid player for a club in desperate need of defensive reinforcements come the close of the current campaign.

That being said, it’s understandable as to why Beadling might look elsewhere in search of regular first-team football. Have any of the defensive acquisitions made by the club this season been better than he? Probably not, if truth be told. In turn, why should Beadling come back to a club that have done little in the way of offering him a route into first-team football?

Hopefully, young Tom returns to the club an improved player capable of helping us in the next campaign - we will likely need him ahead of another tricky season come next year.