Dan Neil: 'No better place to be than Sunderland for young players'

Sunderland youngster Dan Neil has explained why players should be queuing up to sign for the club.

Michael Graham | Apr 5, 2023

Dan Neil: 'No better place to be than Sunderland for young players' /

Sunderland is the best club in the country for young players to join right now, says homegrown midfielder Dan Neil.

Neil is closing in on 100 senior appearances for Sunderland despite being just 21-years old. That reflects the trust and opportunities given to younger players with the Black Cats squad the youngest in the whole Championship.

As a comparison, January recruit Pierre Ekwah, who partnered Neil in central midfield at Burnley, was making his very first senior start despite being just two months younger.

Neil has committed his future to Sunderland by signing a new long-term contract last month, and for him it was a very easy decision.

"One hundred percent, that's the goal,” Neil said when asked if the priority is to play Premier League football for Sunderland.

“I think there's no better place to be in England than Sunderland at the minute if you're a young player.

"They trust in young lads to play. I've got a lot of appearances under my belt and that's what I've got at this age.

"By signing this contract I think I'm going to get more, and there are young players coming in fighting for positions and it's just a really competitive squad.

“I think we are heading in the right direction and hopefully in the three years that I've signed we can get that end goal."

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Published Apr 5, 2023

MICHAEL GRAHAM

Michael Graham is a professional sports writer with more than ten years of industry experience. After pursuing football writing by helping establish the Roker Report Sunderland AFC fansite, Michael moved to Planet Sport to cover football. Michael has since worked on many of the sports sites within the Planet Sport network, including Football365, TEAMtalk and Planet Football before leaving to join 90min. As well as football, Michael is an accomplished tennis writer and has been regularly featured on Tennishead, TennisBuzz and Tennis365. It is football that is his first love, though, with Sunderland AFC his particular passion. Contact: michael@buzzpublishing.co.uk