Sunderland can free up over £1m this summer with 'easy' transfer calls

Sunderland will have a decision to make on the future of several players when the summer transfer window comes along.

As for now, Sunderland will have their entire focus on achieving promotion back to the Premier League, while shutting the door on any outside noise.

The likes of Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham continue to be linked with moves away from Wearside, though there is little to no need for the Black Cats to even consider that at this stage.

However, two decisions they could look towards would free up over £1million, which could prove to be valuable.

Ian Poveda nightmare needs to end this summer

In what has been a whole team effort at Sunderland this season, Ian Poveda has quite literally contributed nothing towards it since arriving on a free transfer last summer.

The Colombian has suffered injury after injury, with Sheffield Wednesday fans very aware of his troubles having spent the previous campaign at Hillsborough.

According to Capology, Poveda earns a remarkable £9,000 per week, amounting to just shy of £500,000 per year, and then taking into account he has two years remaining on his contract, it's costly.

Joe Anderson is another who has had no influence this season, despite pocketing £3,000 a week himself, or £156,000 per year.

Simply put, neither player has a future at Sunderland, and their departure would free up over £1m in wages that could be better used elsewhere.

Sunderland can't afford to keep signing injury-prone players

Poveda isn't the only one to fit the bill when it comes to injury-prone players, though it has been a worrying theme in recent years.

The current injury crisis at Sunderland should serve as a deterrent for deals such as the one for the Colombian in the future, with the lack of squad depth now on full show.

Hopefully, it will mean little come the end of the season, otherwise, questions will be asked.