Jack Diamond has left League One Sunderland to join National League outfit Harrogate Town on loan.
Highly-rated Sunderland forward Jack Diamond is certainly making an impression on his new manager at Harrogate Town with Sulphurites coach Paul Thirlwell hailing the loanee’s potential, as reported by the Sunderland Echo.
A 19-year-old striker who can play anywhere across the front line, the Black Cats youngster has a long way to go before he can live up to his eye-catching surname but to describe the teenager as a ‘rough diamond’ would be no exaggeration.
The long-serving academy starlet is yet to make his senior bow for Sunderland despite appearing for Elliot Dickman’s U23s in the Checkatrade Trophy. Diamond headed out on loan before the transfer window slammed shut and he has found an admirer in Thirlwell, the Harrogate manager who played for Sunderland between 1997 and 2004.
“I got a text last week saying that Jack might be available,” Thirlwell told the Sunderland Echo. “He’s a lad with a lot of potential so we went and had a look at him in a game against Aston Villa on Friday night.
“To be fair, he really stood out and he will add something a bit different to what we already have in the building. He’s got two good feet and he’s in the squad to help us create and score goals.”
Harrogate finished an impressive sixth in the National League last season and Diamond could be a real gem in the fifth-tier.
If Thirlwell can get the best out of an exciting attacking talent who has been highly rated within the walls of the Stadium of Light for some time, then everyone stands to benefit from this short-term loan spell.
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