Sunderland forward Wickham has a point to prove after a disappointing debut season at the Stadium of Light.
A year ago Connor Wickham was being hailed as England’s next big striker – and Liverpool were linked with a big money bid.
Sunderland were viewed to have pulled of a big coup by convincing the attacker to sign, but his first season in the North East did not go to plan.
Now age 19, he shot to prominence three seasons back when he made his debut for Ipswich Town at 16, becoming their youngest ever player.
He soon attracted Premier League interest, scoring a double in his fourth senior game. He continued his progress with Ipswich, earning call-ups into England’s youth set-up.
He hit the winner in the under-17 World Cup against Spain, and a call-up to the under-21 side.
A dazzling solo goal for Ipswich in 2011 against Sheffield United, followed up by a hat-trick against Doncaster had the Premier League scouts in awe, and Steve Bruce’s Sunderland made the bold move.
In truth it has been an underwhelming start to Premier League life for the youngster, but one which should stand him in good stead.
The striker scored just one goal, back in October against Aston Villa in a 2-2 draw, and failed to grasp the striking mettle which was available to him to seize with Asamoah Gyan departing for the UAE.
Now with Nicklas Bendtner heading back to Arsenal on loan and unlikely to return, Wickham is one of just three forwards at the club, with Ji-Dong Won and Frazier Campbell the other two.
It is highly likely that Martin O’Neill will sign another striker, possibly even two this summer, with Gabby Agbonlahor one name linked. We are still early on in the transfer window and at this stage it is hard to assess just how much game time Wickham will be given next season without knowing his competition.
If Sunderland make two big name signings up front, Wickham may find chances difficult to come by, with Frazier Campbell sure to play a big part if he can stay fit.
An outside chance is that the striker could even be loaned out if O’Neill assesses he is not ready for first team football. At 19, he is still young and there is plenty of time for Sunderland to see a return on their £8 million investment, but he can’t afford to be seen to be going backwards.
If Wickham became a regular goalscorer next season it would be an added bonus, but supporters should not expect it. Even at Ipswich his striker rate was never prolific, he tended to score in patches and go a number of games without goals, the most he scored in a season was nine. Steady progression is the name of the game.
He will benefit from a pre-season under O’Neill, who will hope to have the right words of encouragement to get him up to speed with the required standard.
Next season is a big year for the youngster. He will hope to make a big impact over the next couple of seasons, but he needs to have an improvement in 2012-13, and start to pay the club back the money they spent on him, and show he wasn’t an error or judgement made by former boss Steve Bruce.
Is Wickham good enough for Sunderland? What do you expect from him next season?
image: © vagueonthehow
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