SUNDERLAND are bracing themselves for potential interest in young starlet Dan Neil who has caught the eye in his breakthrough season in the first-team.

Neil burst into the starting eleven under Lee Johnson at the start of the season and was one of the standout performers for the Black Cats. The technically gifted midfielder has made 46 appearances this season and scored four goals as well as winning the North-East Writers Young Player of the Award for 2021.

Towards the back end of the current campaign, Neil was withdrawn from the starting eleven with current head coach Alex Neil citing fatigue in the younger players in the squad. Due to the form of the team, Neil has mostly had to settle for a place on the bench after making just three starts under the Scotsman.

The 20-year-old’s performances has gained reported interest a number of clubs higher up the football pyramid. Sunderland Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman is aware that scouts have been in attendance to watch their players but there is no confirmation on whether they were there to watch Neil in action for the Black Cats.

However, he wouldn’t be surprised to see potential suitors declare their interest. “Dan played for England Under-20’s against Germany about four weeks ago. By all accounts, he was the best player on the pitch from the reports and the people I have spoken to” said Speakman. “That’s the calibre of player you are talking about.”

“If there is not interest in Dan Neil, I’m not sure what the other clubs around the country are doing because he is a top young player. But he is our top young player. We’ve got him contracted and we love Dan Neil so at the minute, that is where Dan is at.

“Dan wants to play at the highest level. We have just moved to the Championship. It’s on Dan to get back in pre-season and get in the starting line-up.

“What a great position for us to be in that we’ve got those talented young players. I think Dan is one of a number of players that are in that bracket where other clubs are going to be here, watching him. We can see the list of scouts that turn up every week, we know they are coming to watch and we think we have got four or five that are in that bracket.

“That is completely different to 12 or 18 months ago. We have some real, if you wanted to, saleable assets in the group. I think the nice thing about saleable assets is that you’ve got some good players.”

Neil is contracted at the club until the summer of 2025 after signing a new contract last season.

With the club back in the Championship for next season, Neil faces a fight on his hands to earn a place in the starting line-up. Fellow midfielders Corry Evans, Luke O’Nien, Jay Matete and Carl Winchester will provide competition for places while Jack Diamond will return to the club from his loan spell at League Two side Harrogate Town.

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The club are incredibly impressed with the progress Neil has made over the last year but understand he has work to do now he is considered to be part of the first-team. Speakman continued: “The league is different as well so the qualities you might need for certain games in this league (League One) might be different to next year and I think there is a big difference in terms of the styles of football, which is fine. That’s the challenge.

“I think if you sat down at the start of the season and said Dan Neil would have played the minutes he has played, I think he is in the top five for us even at the end of the season, everyone will have been delighted. I just think the sequence has been the wrong way around and people question it.

“Dan did incredibly well and performed at a really high level when we really needed him to. Got us points and helped us to be part of a successful team when we were missing some of the players.

“Naturally, Dan is a first-team footballer now so Dan’s not an academy player. Therefore, his task is to try and work a way to get into the team and we’ve had a winning team. Therefore, it becomes difficult for anybody who wasn’t at the start but that doesn’t mean we think any less of Dan. Dan is an incredible footballer and we want him to be really successful.

“He’s everything that we spoke about in terms of being a local boy who has got everything in front of him to go on and be a really successful player. We spoke about (Elliot) Embleton, we spoke about (Anthony) Patterson. Dan is no different.”