Off Topic Maja and Asoro pondering...

Sunderland are waiting to hear from Joel Asoro and Josh Maja after boss Chris Coleman said the club had made ‘very good offers’ to the young pair.The teen duo exploded onto the first-team scene in December, when Maja scored the winner against high-flying Fulham.

Sunderland, at that stage, were a day away from going a full calendar year without a home win.

Maja and Asoro replaced James Vaughan and Lewis Grabban late in that contest, and they have gone on to to make a number of senior appearances under Coleman’s charge.

They have been part of a crop of young players to emerge this season, offering genuine hope for the future.

Asoro in particular, however, has been the subject of transfer speculation, after impressing on the international stage with Sweden Under-21s.

Premier League side Watford were the latest to be linked with a swoop and, as both players have just over one year left on their current deals, Coleman admits that the club will be left vulnerable if new contracts are not signed.

He has urged them to put pen-to-paper and insists that Sunderland is the best place for them to realise their potential.

The Welshman said: “There’s no change [with their situation]. To be fair to us, we’ve been very proactive, speaking with their representatives.

“The ball is very much in their court, with both players.

“We’ve made very good offers, so it is up to their camps to come to us. We’re waiting for them to come back to us so we can get it sorted out.”

Asked about the club’s vulnerability, Coleman added: “That’s right.

“Equally, with both players, where do they go from Sunderland, a club the size of this with the opportunities that they will get here?”

“They’ve had first-team opportunities here. Let’s say they go to a Premier League team – they’re not going to play because they’re not ready for that.

“They need to build on that first-team experience and they need to do it here, in my view.

“I think they’ll go backwards if they go into Under-23 football. They’ll get first-team football here, I think it best for both players to stay here and build their careers here.

“It’s all in front of them. They know they’ve got a lot of hard work to do, but it is the best choice for both of them [to stay here].”

Coleman’s biggest concern is that the duo could be talked out of committing their futures, particularly as the prospect of a drop to the third tier of English football looms large.

Nevertheless, even in that scenario, the Black Cats boss believes his project makes Sunderland the perfect environment for them to grow as senior footballers.

He added: “Lots of people around young players make those mistakes for them.

“They get bad advice and then they suffer for it.

“Let’s hope both players have the right people around them. I’m sure that they have.

“A club this size, OK we don’t know what platform we will be building off, but it doesn’t matter what it is, it is the right place for them in terms of what we want to build, where we want to go, how we want to play.”

Both players have drifted slightly from the first-team picture, with Coleman settling on a 4-3-3 system that has seen Aiden McGeady, Lynden Gooch and Ashley Fletcher establishing themselves as first choices in the attacking positions.

Maja has not been part of the last two matchday squads, while Asoro has been an unused substitute in both of those games.

Coleman, however, expects both to appear again in the final four games of the Championship campaign, which continues at Reading tomorrow.

He said: “Josh needs a good pre-season. He has struggled a little bit physically, but he is a good player – I’m his biggest fan – and he just needs that full pre-season, although that’s not to say he won’t play a part between now and the end of the season.

“And with Joel, he picked up a knock.

“He is only 18 himself and we have to be very careful about using him as our go-to every time we are in a bit of trouble.

“He’s a young lad and his form will go up and down, but he has that lightning pace and he’s exciting.

“We may use him on Saturday, and in the remaining games, because, as a young boy, he has that fearless approach.”

Asoro and Maja are not the only players whose deals expire next summer, with George Honeyman and Gooch also coming to the end of their contracts at that point.

Impressive players in recent weeks, they are likely to be offered extensions themselves.

 

Glad to hear they've been offered extensions and I think they'd be wise to take them, it's a chance to establish themselves as first teamers. Neither player is brilliant or too good for League 1 but they do have potential which will only be unlocked with game time.

Speaking of which the sooner the better so Coleman should start playing them now. Fletcher is ****e and won't be here next year so what's the point of dropping our players for him.

 

Can't see em staying, not that they're a higher level, but they'll find more stable clubs which will help them reach a higher level than they will under us imo. Can see Asoro going to a bigger club and disappearing never to be seen again.

 

Again I think a takeover is crucial here.

If we are still in Short's grip I'd be wanting my client out asap if I was an agent.

New owners, new direction and new hope

 

Wasn't it Asoro who was making noises earlier in the season about the club having money but spending it in the wrong places? I can only see them staying if there's a take-over, first team development and a manager that's going to trust them to perform. I can't see them sitting on the bench in League One when there'll be bench-warming opportunities in the Championship. Reckon the two of them would be ace in League One at the moment and Coleman should be getting them on the pitch now and showing faith.

 

Don't know but there's constant noise about much better clubs interested in the lad, much better than his current level of abilities.

 

Newcastle United have been rumoured to have sent scouts to cast an eye over Sunderland duo Joel Asoro and Josh Maja.Asoro (18) and Maja (19) are out of contract next summer and Sunderland have offered them new long-term deals to starve off suitors.

Sunderland boss Chris Coleman has already warned the pair that they risk their career if they join another club and only play Under-23 competitive football.

However, with Arsenal and Watford also rumoured to be interested in the pair, so it could well be that the youngsters are advised to quit Wearside.

 

Get them both into the team now and show some faith in them, playing Fletcher makes no sense whatsoever now. Give Max a chance as well, get them involved instead of just making the right noises, show some faith in the lads, it has paid off with Honeyman, and who knows it could for a few others already on the books.

 

I remember Barca or PSG were linked to a 20m bid for Asoro when we were on the precipice of this landslide down the leagues.

That would have been a lot of debt disappeared.

Now we could lose him to the mags for 3m or something. ****.

 

Love to know where they've sent them, they not playing u23 games at the moment and Maja certainly is getting no pitch time at all. Think mags have been at the Football manager games again.

 

No thanks. Signings like that will have us relegated next season. Knowing us, they’d be slotted straight into the first team

 

How much do you know about them? Probably zero and just spouting ****e as you’ve never seen them.

 

All I need to know is they are part of a squad hurtling towards League 1. Any team that wants to stay in the PL shouldn’t be signing squad players from such a team regardless of their supposed talent. If we were a more capable side, we could accommodate them but it’s going to be more of the same next season.

Wind your neck in. It wasn’t a provocative post.

 

My opinion is neither will become prem standard, though some of Europe's top clubs like Asoro, if we had an owner who'd put money from sales into new players I'd be looking to sell Asoro. Could fetch an inflated price

 

Both are on the bench today to accomodate the Cart horse Fletcher. Cracking way to get them to sign when were already doomed .

 

D

Doubt we'd get more than a few mil for either at this stage.

 

Those are decent fees for a league one promotion push.

 

With Rodwell getting only £42,000 (poor lad !)a week next season Chris could give them a rise.

 

Why would Rodwell get less than he's on now?