Josh Robertson’s transfer to Brighton has been explained by Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman.
Although Josh Robertson’s decision to leave Sunderland for Brighton was unfortunate, sporting director Kristjaan Speakman acknowledged that it was the player’s decision in the end.
As Robertson’s scholarship came to an end, Sunderland offered him a professional deal; nevertheless, he chose to move to Brighton.
Speakman remarked, “With Josh, it’s really difficult.” “We are working to ensure that the program we offer is something that players require and want.”
It’s difficult because that doesn’t always fit them. There are many other football teams out there vying for your players, and we’ve recently had great success keeping talent on the team.
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Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman admitted it was disappointing to lose youngster Josh Robertson to Brighton, but ultimately it was the player’s choice.
As Robertson’s scholarship came to an end, Sunderland offered him a professional deal; nevertheless, he chose to move to Brighton.
The midfielder will cost Sunderland an undisclosed sum, but Speakman warns that you won’t always be able to fend off rival teams who are trying to “steal” elite young players.
“With regard to Josh it’s really difficult,” Speakman said. “We’re trying to make sure we deliver a programme that players want and players need.
“That doesn’t necessarily always fit them and it’s hard. There’s a lot of other football clubs that are out there that are trying to steal your players and we’ve had a really good record recently of retaining talent.
“Josh just felt he wasn’t in a position where he felt he couldn’t commit to what we were offering him and where we were.
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“He plays in a position on the pitch where we’ve got other players at the club and we couldn’t make guarantees on certain things, which I don’t think we should be doing.
“We got to a point where we presented him with a choice.”
Speakman’s assessment of their track record is accurate. The academy was intentionally asset-stripped by Sunderland as a cost-cutting strategy while it was owned by Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven.
“On the one hand we’re losing Josh but on the second hand we’ve got young Rhys [Walsh] who is joining us which I think just shows, from our football club, whether it’s senior first-team players all the way down to our youth team, we’re trying to acquire talent where possible.”