Left for £0, now worth £6.3m: SAFC had huge howler over "Champions League" quality gem - opinion

Sunderland are currently battling for a place in the play-offs in their attempt to get out of League One and back up to the Championship.

Alex Neil’s side are sixth in the table as it stands and have seven games left to make sure that they are in with a shot of returning to the second tier.

It is a grim reality for Black Cats fans as their team scrap for a play-off place in the third tier after many years of competing in the Premier League in recent history.

Some supporters may look back on decisions that the club made over the years and pick out moments which led to where they are now, and one of those could be the departure of John Egan.

The current Sheffield United defender came up through the youth ranks at the Stadium of Light and went out on loan to a number of Football League clubs before being released in 2014, duly signing for Gillingham on a free transfer.

This decision ended up being a huge howler by the Wearside, club as he has since gone on to forge an impressive career, joining the Blades in 2018 after spending two years with Brentford after leaving Gillingham.

He has averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.98 or higher in all four of his Championship campaigns for the Bees and United combined to date. The Republic of Ireland international is an outstanding player in the second tier and his market value represents that, as shown in the graphic below.

Transfermarkt currently value him at £6.3m and he has proven that he can play in the top two divisions in England, whilst Sunderland remain in the third tier for now.

In his debut season in the Premier League for the Blades in 2019/20, he averaged a sublime SofaScore rating of 6.96 across 36 matches. He made 2.8 tackles and interceptions per game and won 61% of his