Sunderland has confirmed their retained list for the 2025/26 season.
Sunderland announced the departure of six academy players when they published their retained list this morning. The list reveals that all senior first-team players have been retained, with Chris Mepham and Salis Abdul Samed returning to Bournemouth and RC Lens when their loan stints were completed. Tommy Watson joined Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday, while Enzo Le Fée signed a four-year contract with Sunderland on July 1.
Sunderland might still sign Chris Mepham, who is poised to depart Bournemouth permanently this summer. He is out of contract this summer, but Bournemouth has the option to extend it for another season.
The club has offered first-team professional contracts to four young youth players and is said to have had fruitful conversations with all of them.
While Sunderland will have a busy transfer window preparing for the Premier League, the retained list highlights the work that sporting director Kristjaan Speakman will need to do to simplify the team. None of those players on loan have had their parent clubs use their option-to-buy agreements, despite Hibernian’s strong desire to sign Nectar Triantis permanently.
Sunderland’s retained list statement, in full
“Sunderland AFC has filed its retained list for the 2025–26 season. Following the ratification of Enzo Le Fée’s four-year contract at the Stadium of Light, all first-team players have been retained with the exception of Chris Mepham and Salis Abdul Samed, who will return to their parent clubs.
Mepham joined from AFC Bournemouth and appeared 40 times, playing an important role in the club’s elevation to Premier League. Abdul Samed appeared on 11 occasions and, in addition to his services on the pitch, he became a key character in the dressing room throughout the campaign. Tommy Watson has also joined Brighton & Hove Albion after a spectacular finale to his stint on Wearside, in which he scored a stoppage-time winner at Wembley Stadium to propel Sunderland to the Premier League.
Ben Crompton, Cuba Mitchell, Caden Kelly, and Kelechi Chibueze, all from the under-21 team, will leave the Club this summer, as will second-year scholars Aaron Chung and Daniel Parker.
Ben Middlemas, Oliver Bainbridge, Marshall Burke, and Daniel Cameron have all agreed to one-year extensions, while Ethan Moore and Timur Tutierov have also been offered fresh terms at the end of their contracts.
Ben Kindon, Ben Metcalf, Jack Whittaker, and Jaydon Jones have been offered their first professional contracts with the club.
SAFC would like to thank each leaving player for their contributions and wish them the best of luck in their future ventures.
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