Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman has admitted that he didn’t think Mason Burstow was going to be made available during the summer, speaking candidly to the Sunderland Echo.
The Black Cats needed more attacking players to come in during the latter stages of the transfer window.
They may have been able to retain Jack Clarke, which was a major boost, and they also managed to keep hold of Patrick Roberts and some other valuable players who will be very useful in the final third.
However, it was clear throughout the transfer window that they were lacking depth in the forward department and they have been lacking it ever since their return to the Championship, even when they had Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms at their disposal.
They may have been able to get to the play-offs without both at the end of last term – but their lack of depth was unsustainable and thankfully for them – they were able to address this issue.
Luis Hemir joined in June and Eliezer Mayenda arrived during the following month.
But it was clear that more work had to be done in this area considering the duo’s inexperience and Stewart’s departure to Southampton – and they added Nazariy Rusyn and Mason Burstow to their squad.
Burstow is their only loanee at this point, with the Black Cats prioritising permanent additions during the previous window in their quest to build for the long term and develop assets that they can sell on for high amounts in the future.
What was Mason Burstow’s situation at Chelsea?
Considering his inexperience and the fact he has already played in the EFL, Burstow looked to be in the frame to seal a loan exit – but the Blues didn’t have a huge number of forward options at their disposal.
Nicolas Jackson may have joined – but Armando Broja is still working his way back to full fitness, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left for Marseille, Romelu Lukaku went out on loan and David Datro Fofana joined Union Berlin temporarily.
Burstow even appeared on the bench for Mauricio Pochettino during the early stages of the campaign, but the signing of Deivid Washington may have given them the confidence to sanction a loan exit for Burstow.
Despite Pochettino not having too many options in the forward area, Burstow didn’t look as though he was going to win too much game time at Stamford Bridge this term and that’s why the Blues probably made the right decision to loan him out.
Speaking about his surprise that an exit was sanctioned for the forward, the Black Cats’ key figure Speakman said: “We would prefer to purely sign players on a permanent basis, we’ve always articulated that. But we’d been tracking Mason [Burstow] for some time and we didn’t think he would be available.
“When he was, we made our pitch and fortunately we were able to beat several clubs to his signature.”
Did Mason Burstow make the right decision to join Sunderland?
It’s hard to answer that question at the moment because it remains to be seen how much game time he’s going to get.
If the Black Cats’ 11 that started against Southampton can continue performing well, he may not win too much game time!
But Tony Mowbray has a good track record of working with young players before and will give them an opportunity to shine.
Burstow is certainly a gifted player and you would back him to be an asset at the Stadium of Light, with the player previously shining for the Blues’ academy.
He also has EFL experience under his belt already from his time at Charlton Athletic, which may make Mowbray less hesitant about throwing him straight into the starting lineup.