Four Championship striker deals that make Sunderland Ross Stewart valuation look too low

Does Championship history suggest that Ross Stewart should be valued at more than the reported £10million asking price?

According to recent reports, Sunderland have set a £10million asking price for Ross Stewart should contract talks break down.

It sparked a good deal of debate among Sunderland fans about whether that was a fair price. Some thought so, while others considered it to be on the low side. The insinuation in the report, meanwhile, was Sunderland had set an over-the-top price to put off any would-be suitors.

Valuations of footballers is a weird thing, and we know better than most how wasteful some clubs can be with their money. The fact Stewart only has 18 months left on his contract also may be playing a part in lowering his valuation somewhat.

However, here are four relatively recent deals for Championship strikers that suggest Sunderland might be valuing Ross Stewart a little on the low side.

Britt Assombalonga

Middlesbrough paid a cool £15million to sign Britt Assombalonga from Nottingham Forest in 2017.

Boro were flush with parachute payment money following their relegation, and they thought the DR Conga striker could provide the firepower for an immediate return to the Premier League.

He didn’t, but he was at least a relatively consistent goalscorer for the Teesside club, scoring 47 goals in 161 games in all competitions.

What you would acknowledge about Assombalonga is that he had a longer track record than Ross Stewart. Like Stewart, he had a great season in League one with Peterborough, but then went on to do well in the Championship too scoring 30 goals in 69 games for Forest.

You can accept that longer track record inflating the price a little, but I’m not sure he ever looked that much better than Stewart.

Benik Afobe

Another DR Congo striker, Benik Afobe, also helps make the case that a £10million price-tag for Ross Stewart is on the low side. 

Afobe twice moved for £10million plus based on pretty modest goal returns. In 2015 he joined Premier League Bournemouth after 22 goals in two Championship seasons for Wolves. After 11 goals in 71 matches, Bournemouth somehow made a profit on him by selling him onto Stoke for £12million.

He completely flopped in the Potteries and is currently at Millwall, where he has continued to do nothing remarkable.

Scott Hogan

Scott Hogan is one of the most compelling arguments for Ross Stewart’s reported Sunderland valuation being too low.

Hogan was first noticed as he scored 19 goals for League Two Rochdale in the 2013/14 season. Brentford picked him up for a bargain £750,000, and he did okay with the Bees, scoring 21 Championship goals in two seasons.

‘Okay’ just about covers it, though. Quite what possessed Aston Villa to pay £12million for him is anyone’s guess. He didn’t do well, scoring just 10 goals in 61 games.

He has found himself a home at Birmingham City, and has been in good goalscoring form this season. He’s no Ross Stewart, though, and never was.

Jordan Hugill

Jordan Hugill started his career at Seaham Red Star, so he’s a player you always wanted to do well. He did grand too, you’d have to say, getting all the way to the Premier League when West ham signed him for £10million – the same reported asking price for Ross Stewart.

That, though, was on the back of a very modest goalscoring record at Championship level. The season he left Preston he had scored 8 Championship goals in 27 games, just two more than Stewart has in eight matches this season.

The previous season he was not exactly prolific either, scoring just 12 in the whole campaign.

I know we are naturally inclined to be biased towards our own players, but if Jordan Hugill was worth £10million in 2018, Ross Stewart must be worth more than that now. 

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