Fan Letters: “Sunderland are battling against southern clubs for young and talented players”

Dear Roker Report,

Watching Liverpool and Chelsea fight it out to sign two young players with less than one hundred senior games between them highlighted how hard it must be for Kristjaan Speakman and his team to persuade players to join us.

It’s not just about money.

Both clubs offered £170 million for Moisés Caicedo and Romeo Lavia but both of these stars of the future preferred to sign for Chelsea.

Was that because Chelsea is a better club, a better team, or that they have the better manager? Are their salaries higher? I doubt it.

It’s likely they found the bright lights of London a more appealing place to spend their new-found wealth than whatever Liverpool has to offer.

If Liverpool fail to appeal to these young players, what chance do we have?

How do we attract young talent when we’re up against the likes of Brighton, Brentford and any other team in the south east who are searching in the same market as us?

Speakman has shown that it’s not impossible but he starts with one huge disadvantage, so let’s give him credit where it’s due.

Peter Tyrrell

Dear Roker Report,

I couldn’t agree more about supporting our owners and the business that’s been conducted recently.

I’m led to believe we’re about to sign Nazariy Rusyn from the Ukrainian league, and there are a number of very impatient ‘fans’ who think they know more about football and its dealings than anyone else.

However, it’s quite clear they don’t and I’m so pleased that the club haven’t been flustered by the copious amount of impatient fans trying to pile pressure on the owner and recruitment team.

Dear Roker Report,

It appears that Tony Mowbray is working under impossible circumstances.

He has no say in which players are bought and is just given young players to use. At the same time, his target is to move the club to promotion.

George France