Chris Rigg reacts as Sunderland share official goodbye message
Sunderland have announced several exits over the last few days.
With a Premier League campaign to attend to, Sunderland have had to put plans in place across several areas of the club in order to give themselves the best chance at succeeding.
Recruitment will be the key priority at the Stadium of Light this summer, though the future of those already on Wearside will also be under consideration.
With that in mind, the Black Cats have announced departures for several players throughout different levels of their squad, with others reacting to the news.
Sunderland announce first-team exit
Most of the focus so far this summer has been on the future of Jobe Bellingham, who looks all but set to sign on the dotted line ahead of a move to Borussia Dortmund.
However, he isn’t the only one expected to leave this window, with Bren Crompton and Tommy Watson both also set for exits.
| Sunderland | Games | Goals | Assists |
| Watson | 21 | 3 | 0 |
Sunderland announced that the latter has now officially departed the Stadium of Light in a post via Instagram, and Chris Rigg liked it, alongside Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Watson himself.
Watson is Brighton-bound after a fee was agreed before the window opened, though his parting gift of a promotion-winning goal at Wembley will go down in history.
Sunderland must replace Watson this window
Sunderland have a lot of work to do this summer, but replacing Watson has to be up towards the top of their list of priorities.
Romaine Mundle is now the only natural left-winger in the side, and his injury troubles over the last 12 months will spark concern as to whether he can last a full season.
Of course, if Jobe leaves, that will be another area that the Black Cats need to address, ahead of what promises to be a hectic summer period.
The Mackems showed plenty of ambition in their promotion push, and that will be put to the test even further this summer as they look to build a squad that can achieve Premier League survival, a feat not achieved by many newly-promoted teams.