Jay Matete reveals what he can offer to Sunderland’s promotion push

Jay Matete was one of the more eye-catching signings made by Sunderland in the January transfer window, with the 20-year-old committing his future to the club until the summer of 2026.

The robust midfielder is approaching 50 league appearances in the EFL and is an exciting addition to a strong compliment of central midfielders at the club.

In direct competition with Dan Neil, Luke O’Nien, Corry Evans and Carl Winchester, it will be interesting to see how much game time Matete can carve out for himself, with a new manager set to be appointed in the coming weeks.

Matete explained what he can offer the Black Cats in their promotion bid when he spoke to ChronicleLive.

He said: “I’d say I like to do a bit of everything.

“I like getting on the ball, running with the ball but I’m happy to get stuck in as well, doing the other side of the game.

“I’m probably a bit of an all-rounder.

“I’m happy to be joining a team that’s winning a lot of games, I’ve got a winning mentality myself so I just want to add to the group.”

Sunderland are still just two points off of the automatic promotion places, despite a humbling 6-0 defeat at Bolton Wanderers last time out, the club will be hoping that Matete’s youthful exuberance can have a positive influence on the fresh slate that has been handed to the squad, in the aftermath of Lee Johnson’s dismissal.

The Verdict

One thing that it would appear a new manager at Sunderland will not have, is control over transfers, whether that will make the job less attractive for some of the higher calibre names linked with the post remains to be seen.

The Black Cats have the players to thrust themselves back into the top two in the coming months, with Wigan Athletic in particular looking like they can be