Tommy Watson to Brighton: Why have Sunderland done this deal now?

Sunderland have announced that they have agreed a deal with Brighton and Hove Albion for teenage winger Tommy Watson.

Watson was the subject of heavy transfer speculation in January and it seems had his head turned by the Seagulls, who he will join up with when the summer transfer window officially opens on June 1st.

Watson was heading into the last 18 months of his current Sunderland deal and Sunderland’s sporting director confirmed that he had been ‘subject to multiple offers from Premier League clubs over the past two windows and it’s been well-documented that we’ve declined these approaches with the intent of extending his contract. Unfortunately, this has not been possible’

Why has this deal been done now?

With this deal being announced in April it has caught supporters off guard as to why the deal has been done and announced in the midst of Sunderland’s promotion hunt with some fearing discontent in the camp ahead of what is going to be a huge end of Sunderland’s season.

Well, in reality with Speakman confirming that Watson and Sunderland could not reach a spark in contract negotiations, the longer this saga dragged on past the January window, Sunderland’s negotiating stance weakened, with Watsons contract only getting shorter by the day, however with the figure, what is reported by numerous sources around the £10 million mark, shows Sunderland’s ‘model’ working in full flow, receiving a huge transfer fee for someone who has only a handful of first team games under his belt.

Before signing his first professional deal at Sunderland there were strong rumours about Watson potentially leaving the club for Nottingham Forest or Rangers, this would have been for a much smaller fee then what has been reported Sunderland are getting for the winger now.

A great deal for all parties and as long as Watsons head remains in the right area, he could still have a major part to play in Sunderland’s promotion Hunt.