STUART HARVEY GONE

Sunderland have confirmed the departure of Head of Player Recruitment, Stuart Harvey. The Northern Irishman departs after four years with us as one of the key figures during our climb back to the Premier League from League One.

Harvey leaves Sunderland in a much better place than where it was when he came in, with us now utilising a refreshed recruitment strategy which has developed as we've risen. The focus on developing young talents to turn a profit for the future is a huge reason for why we are where we are, and that enabled us to sell the likes of Jobe Bellingham for a tidy profit so we could reinvest in a new revised version of the model for the Premier League.

This season our model changed slightly, whilst we have brought in even more exciting youngsters we also recruited the experienced heads of Granit Xhaka and Reinildo Mandava amongst others.

Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman said: “Stuart has made a significant contribution to Sunderland AFC throughout his time at the Club. His professionalism, expertise, and dedication have been evident throughout, and he has played a key part in our progress in recent years. He worked tirelessly through the summer to ensure continuity and consistency in our recruitment processes, and he leaves with our gratitude and best wishes for the future. Stuart will always be welcome back at the Stadium of Light.”