Sunderland had their own ‘Alan Shearer’ who’d be worth £21m in 2024 money

Sunderland will be looking to keep a firm grip on some of their young starlets ahead of next season, even if recent reports suggest that this could indeed be a tall order for the struggling Black Cats.

16-year-old midfield sensation Chris Rigg looks set to be in the middle of a major bidding war in the summer despite still only being a teenager, with the likes of Manchester United and even Sunderland’s arch-rivals in Newcastle United sniffing about for his services.

Jobe Bellingham is another who could also have his head turned by the allure of a higher-up suitor soon, with Serie A titans Lazio reportedly keen on the former Birmingham City gem.

Sunderland will just be thankful that they’ve had some great luck with their current crop of young stars to try and forget about their significant blunder in 2011 with this flop, who would never settle in at the Stadium of Light after being hyped up to be the next best thing.

Connor Wickham’s transfer to Sunderland

Joining for a bumper £8m 13 years ago, the world was expected of Connor Wickham when relocating to Wearside under Steve Bruce’s watch, after bursting onto the scene at former club Ipswich Town at a rapid speed.

At just 17 years of age, Wickham would win Young Player of the Year for the Tractor Boys at the EFL awards after proving to be a goalscoring menace for the Suffolk club whilst still learning the ropes as a youngster.

His final season with Ipswich would see him tear up second-tier defences, leading to that coveted accolade being picked up by the then-teen striker before Sunderland came calling.

Sunderland must have thought gambling on a major move for Wickham would pay off, with the imposing 6 foot 3 forward becoming a reliable source of goals in the Premier League after initially taking time to get used to his new top-flight environment.

Instead, despite Wickham terrorising Championship defences as an up-and-coming gem with Ipswich, he would never truly fit in at the Stadium of Light with wasteful performances becoming more commonplace over his previous blistering best in Suffolk.

The now 31-year-old striker would only score once during his debut season for the Black Cats in the Premier League, with his best tally for a campaign coming in at a meagre six from his four disappointing years situated in Wearside.

Looking at TotallyMoney’s Transfer Index, this £8m deal would look even more like a colossal waste of money when you examine today’s inflated costs.

Sunderland will just hope they can recoup some money if the likes of Rigg and Bellingham do end up walking away, rather than setting it alight in this example.

Wickham’s transfer value in 2024

If this same disastrous move went through in 2024, Wickham would have cost Sunderland and Bruce even more of a bomb at an eye-watering £21.5m, as per Totally Money.

That would push the misfiring forward up to being the most expensive signing in Sunderland’s history, ahead of Didier NDong’s excessive £13.6m fee, further reinforcing his tag as a huge flop.

Former Sunderland legend Niall Quinn even dubbed Wickham as having the potential to be “Sunderland’s Alan Shearer” in 2014, only to be very much proved wrong by the injury-prone attacker’s forgettable time playing for the Black Cats – hardly getting close to Shearer’s return of 260 Premier League goals, it’s fair to say.

Crystal Palace also suffered as a result of taking a punt on Wickham after his Sunderland exit, with the 31-year-old – who is now without a club after most recently turning out for Charlton Athletic – missing a ridiculous 999 days of action for the Eagles owing to injuries.

The Black Cats will aim to purchase more raw gems in the summer to boost their squad, hoping to not have a repeat of this cursed deal which never lived up to the Shearer-esque billing.