WHEN Sunderland beat Wycombe Wanderers at Wembley last month, they achieved a result that will have a hugely transformative effect on the club’s future prospects. After four years of toiling in the third tier, the Black Cats can finally start preparing for a return to the Championship.

Yet while the performance of Alex Neil’s side on the Wembley turf marked an end to a four-year period that can rightly be regarded as the lowest in Sunderland’s history, it can be argued that it was not even the most important development involving the club that was playing out last month. On the pitch, the Black Cats turned a corner. Off it, discussions were taking place that could have an even bigger impact on what happens next.

While Sunderland’s players were securing promotion, Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven were agreeing the finer details of a deal that will see them finally relinquish control of the 39 per cent shareholding they retained when Kyril Louis-Dreyfus arrived as a controlling stakeholder at the start of last year.

The deal with a party that remains unnamed because of non-disclosure agreements that were signed as part of the negotiating process is now in the hands of the EFL, who have to rubberstamp the transfer of shares before it can be formally ratified. Provided there are no unforeseen problems in that process, which should be completed in around a month, Donald and Methven’s four-year association with Sunderland will finally be over. At that point, and only at that point, a line can be drawn under an era that promised much but delivered very little, and the club will be able to move on.

Would it matter if Donald and Methven remained in place for another season? I’d argue yes because as it stands, Sunderland’s ownership structure is a barrier to the kind of investment that will be required if the club is to be competitive in the Championship next season.

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Louis-Dreyfus might have control over the club’s key decisions, but he only owns 41 per cent of Sunderland’s shares and is clearly either unwilling or unable to increase that stake by buying out Donald and Methven himself at the price they are demanding. Juan Sartori currently owns 20 per cent of the club, and remains close to Louis-Dreyfus despite his links to the previous regime, but it is far from clear how much money he is personally able to invest into the club.

Even if Louis-Dreyfus and Sartori were to combine to agree an investment to cover new signings and increased wage payments in the next couple of months, they would be reliant on Donald and Methven matching that funding at a ratio commensurate to their shareholding, or they would have to fund the shortfall themselves, even though they would effectively be using their own money to plug a gap created by other investors. Understandably, given Donald and Methven’s past dealings, there is considerable uncertainty about both their willingness or ability to invest this summer.

New investors would have the potential to change things at a stroke, introducing a new revenue stream Sunderland will need if they are to reestablish themselves as a Championship side capable of targeting promotion back to the top-flight. The Black Cats stand to see their revenue increase by around £10m as a result of winning promotion, but their wage bill last season was around £10m lower than the average wage bill in the Championship. Without external investment, Sunderland would have to spend every penny of their additional income on wages, never mind transfer fees, just to get a level where they were matching the average for the second tier.

Clearly, the major elephant in the room is the identity of the new investors, which remains shrouded in secrecy because of the agreements that are in place. There has been talk of INEOS chief John Reece being involved, while the appearance of BlackRock vice-chairman Philipp Hildebrand in the Royal Box at Wembley inevitably set tongues wagging.

Things will become clear soon, but sources close to the discussions insist Louis-Dreyfus would not have agreed to work with new partners unless he was convinced they were able to meet the funding requirements he has set out in the long-term plans he has drawn up with sporting director Kristjaan Speakman.

The Northern Echo:

Provided that is the case, and assuming the EFL do not throw a spanner in the works, the new season should begin with Sunderland under the control of a new ownership group, with new investors keen to drive the club on. Ultimately, that should be every bit as transformational as winning at Wembley.