Chris Coleman has discussed the possibility of new contracts for the five Sunderland players whose deals expire this summer, but will any of them get one?
Chris Coleman has told those Sunderland players whose contracts expire this summer that they will have to wait until the end of the season to see if they will be offered a new one.
Five will be free transfers on July 1 in captain John O’Shea, Darron Gibson, Billy Jones, Kazenga LuaLua and Marc Wilson and the Black Cats manager has not made any decision on them as yet.
“From our point, we can’t say yes or no, all we can say is ‘get your head down, let’s get over the line and at the end of the season we’ll see, who owns the club, what the plan is’,” Coleman told the Sunderland Echo.
“For the older boys where you’re looking maybe at a year here or there, we can’t do that right now because we don’t know what’s going to happen.
“The uncertainty is uncomfortable, for sure.”
Will any of them stay?
O’Shea, who turns 37 next month, could well be kept on in a coaching capacity with the defender now looking well and truly like his best days on the pitch are behind him.
Little has been seen of LuaLua since joining on a free transfer from Brighton and Hove Albion in January due to injury and therefore the winger could be offered a pay-per-play deal.
However, Gibson, Jones and Wilson will be allowed to leave the Stadium of Light having failed to impress during what has been one of the worst campaigns in the club’s history.
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