Sunderland transfer rumours rated: Is John Buckley a January target?

Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray reportedly fancies a double raid on former club Blackburn for a pair of midfielders.

Journalist Alan Nixon has written the story for his Patreon page, claiming Mowbray will try to sign John Buckley and Bradley Dack in January.

The Dack rumour is an established one. Mowbray himself has denied it, saying last month: “I can tell you is there has been no contact to the football club.

“Bradley is, I think 28, does that fit the profile of what the club is trying to do? I'd think [signing him] is very unlikely, and the financial aspect of it is very definitely unlikely."

Nixon is almost a singular voice on social media maintaining Sunderland still want him, although the rumour has definitely died down since Mowbray’s comments.

The Buckley one is new, though, and quite interesting. The first thing to say is that Nixon is reporting that it would be a loan deal.

He has not featured all that much for Blackburn this season under Jon Dahl Tomasson. The Dane definitely does not seem to rate him as highly as Mowbray did when he was in charge. In fact, Buckley has only played 142 minutes of Championship football since the end of August.

Central midfield is certainly a position you’d imagine Sunderland wanting to strengthen in January too. Corry Evans aside, there is not much Championship nous in there, and Buckley has amassed more than 100 League appearances for Blackburn.

It’s the loan element that doesn’t seem to fit right. Buckley is 23-years-old and Blackburn likely still think he is worth keeping around. He is on a long-term contract there too that was literally signed just two months ago and doesn’t expire until 2027.

Does it fit, then, that Sunderland would take minutes away from their own talented midfield youngsters such as Dan Neil and Abdoullah Ba to help another Championship club develop one of theirs? There is also the question of where it would leave Edouard Michut. Jay Matete is not getting anywhere near enough minutes either.

What you can say, though, is that Alan Nixon is genuinely very well connected, especially with the clubs in the northwest, so there is likely to be something of substance to this somewhere.

With Mowbray apparently so ‘on board’ with Sunderland’s transfer model, though, it seems a loan deal for Buckley would be unlikely. That could change if a promotion push starts looking a lot more likely between now and the end of January, but then you’d have the issue of why Blackburn would strengthen what would then be a direct play-offs rival.

Rumour rating: 5/10