Luke O’Nien shares what he’s seen from Dan Neil as Sunderland exit nears
Dan Neil has been a Sunderland player for 16 years, where he first rose through the academy before breaking into the first team back in 2018.
The 24-year-old was a key player for Regis Le Bris in last season’s campaign, which saw the Mackems return to the Premier League after an eight-year absence.
However, this season, he has barely featured for the club. In the Premier League, he has made just three appearances, totalling 13 minutes, and Neil’s only Sunderland start this season came against Huddersfield in the Carabao Cup, back in August.
Now, Neil has been linked with a move away from Sunderland this transfer window.
Despite the lack of game time, Luke O’Nien, another long-term servant for the Black Cats, has been impressed with Neil’s work ethic.
Luke O’Nien praises Dan Neil for important role at Sunderland
After captaining his boyhood club during last season’s playoff final, Neil would have been hoping for a fairytale ending to his Sunderland story.
However, the jump from the Championship to England’s top flight appears to be too steep, and in August, Neil was removed as Sunderland captain.
Despite being a mainstay in Le Bris’ plans last campaign, the opposite has been true over the last six months.
Neil has found himself on the fringes of the squad, with game time lacking, and most recently was left out of the squad in Sunderland’s 3-1 defeat to West Ham.
However, his team-mate O’Nien, who has been part of Neil’s journey since 2018, is still noticing the qualities he gave the club over the last few years.
Speaking to the Sunderland Echo, O’Nien has explained exactly why he is “proud” of Neil this season.
He said: “And when you see Dan Neil pushing the starters as hard as he can. He’s supported this club since day one, think of how much he’s given this club, it’s been one of my proudest things seeing his journey.
“On paper it’s not going for him and he’s not playing, but I’m so proud of how hard he’s trained every day. I wish people from the outside could see how important he’s been in driving the standards.
“Him, Simon Moore, Leo, young lads who don’t travel but train so well every day. I wish everyone could see it. I’m so proud of them.”
Dan Neil would leave Sunderland as a legend
The word ‘legend’ might get thrown around too loosely in the modern era, but Dan Neil is the embodiment of that for Sunderland.
After spending eight years in the club’s academy, he rose through the ranks during one of the club’s toughest periods, making his debut with the Mackems while they were still in League One.
He helped guide the club back up to the Championship by winning the 2021-2022 League One play-offs, and then just a few years later, he did the same to take the Black Cats back to the Premier League.
With 201 appearances for the club, Neil will go down as one of the key members who revitalised Sunderland.
While he has not made an impact in the current season, the successes the club has found this year would not have been possible without the likes of Dan Neil’s contributions.
If he does leave the Stadium of Light this window, he will go down as a Black Cats legend.
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