Where are they now? Sunderland’s young guns; featuring Conor Hourihane

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We catch up with some of the Sunderland youngsters who have left the club in recent years.

Conor Hourihane, John Egan and Ben Wilson are among the ex-Sunderland youth prospects to be showing their talents in the Championship.

Hourihane recently completed a January move to Aston Villa following an impressive spell as captain of high-flying Barnsley. The creative midfielder has tasted defeat in all four of his league games since arriving at Villa Park, including a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Tykes.

Egan ended his five-year association with Sunderland in 2014 to sign for League One sign Gillingham. After turning heads during his two-year stint with the Gills, Egan earned a move to Championship side Brentford in the summer. The centre-back had been a regular in Dean Smith’s starting-eleven up until last month when he lost his place following the 2-1 defeat to Wigan Athletic.

Speaking of Wigan, the Latics recently moved to bring in non-league striker – and former Sunderland youngster – Mikael Mandron from Eastleigh. Mandron’s ten league goals and another five in the FA Cup has led to an immediate rise back up the leagues, following his release from Sunderland at the start of the season.

The Black Cats let goalkeeper Ben Wilson go in the summer of 2013. He had spells with Cambridge United and Accrington Stanley, and subsequently caught the eye of Cardiff City scouts. Wilson, 24, is currently spending the second half of the 2016/7 campaign on-loan at League One play-off contenders Rochdale.

Wilson is joined in League One by midfielder Billy Knott. The 24-year-old spent two years with Bradford City until he was offered a move to play-off rivals Gillingham in the summer. Knott has featured 17 times for the Gills in the league this season.

Former Sunderland youngsters Scott Harrison and Trevor Carson are helping Hartlepool United maintain their football league status. Harrison has enjoyed a recent run in Dave Jones’ starting line-up, while Carson has been out injured since January.

Jordan Cook is playing well at the other end of the League Two table with Luton Town. The winger, who left on a permanent deal to Walsall in 2014, recently scored in the Hatters’ 2-0 victory over Cambridge United.

Louis Laing, Blair Adams and Martin Smith are now playing their football across the border. Bottom of the Scottish Premiership Inverness recently snapped up Laing until the end of the campaign, while Adams signed for fellow relegation-strugglers Hamilton Academical in January.

Smith scored on his league debut for Kilmarnock against Motherwell back in August, but is yet to establish himself in Lee Clark’s starting line-up.

Adam Reed is one of a few former Sunderland young guns to now play their football abroad. Reed, 25, signed for Philippine side Stallion Laguna in January of 2016, and then decided to jump to league rivals Kaya a few months later.

The Black Cats signed 21-year-old Roy Donovan from Cork City back in 2007. The Irishman spent most of his three years out the club out on-loan until he was sold to Coventry City. Donovan, now 31, recently had a stint in Brunei football, where he played under former Blackburn Rovers boss Steve Kean. He is now racking up the goals for recently-formed Australian side Central Coast Mariners.

Sunderland signed youngsters Charis Mavrias and David Moberg Karlsson during the 2013 summer transfer window. Mavrias is currently playing for second tier German side Karlsruher SC, while Karlsson has returned to Sweden with IFK Norrkoping.