Ross Stewart’s summertime sale by Sunderland was the “right” move.
Kristjaan Speakman stated that he has no regrets about offloading the striker after receiving a “good offer” during the Red & White Army Q&A session.
In 2021, Ross Stewart left Ross County to join Sunderland for a fee of less than £3,000,000.
Charlie Wyke was the Scot’s backup at first, but Stewart took over after his old teammate moved to Wigan Athletic.
With an amazing 26 goals in 49 games, the “important” 27-year-old was a major factor in Sunderland’s promotion to the Championship.
Stewart’s form continued into the second tier, bagging 10 goals in only 13 games. However, the forward suffered an Achilles injury in January and has remained on the sidelines ever since.
With Stewart’s contract set to expire next summer, there had been a lot of uncertainty surrounding his future.
The Scotland international had been linked with a host of clubs, but he looked set to remain on Wearside in the summer due to his injury.
However, late interest from Southampton led to Stewart eventually sealing a £10 million move to the south coast.
The Black Cats have now been left without an experienced goalscorer, but Speakman has insisted that his sale was the right decision.
Speakman was joined by Kyril-Louis Dreyfus, Steve Davison and David Bruce.
While it was hard to see such a talented striker leave Sunderland, it was the right decision.
The Scot had been injured for practically the whole year and it was unclear how long it would actually take him to be fully fit, while he may not even get back to his best.
Sunderland could have faced losing him for pennies in January, or he could have left for free next summer if we failed to win promotion.
Raking in £10m for an injured player with 12 months left on his contract was a very good deal.
