Sunderland manager David Moyes is hoping his willingness to give youngsters a chance in his first team will attract some of the finest young talents in the game to the Premier League club’s academy.
In a bid to inject energy into his ageing squad, Moyes has fielded 10 under-23 players in his first-team this season, including defenders Paddy McNair, Donald Love and Jason Denayer, and midfielders Didier Ndong and Adnan Januzaj.
“Everton had an academy which produced young players, Manchester United had an academy which produced young players, and Sunderland have an academy which has produced,” Moyes told British media, referring to his previous two English clubs.
Sunderland’s academy have produced several Premier League players in recent years, including goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, winger Duncan Watmore and midfielder Lynden Gooch as well as Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson.
“I want it to inspire young players to think, ‘If I go to Sunderland, the manager might put me in the team there. Maybe it’s better than going to one of the big clubs where maybe the manager won’t put me in the team.’,” Moyes added.
“We’ll have to use that as a motivation to the parents and the young players out there to say, ‘Come to Sunderland’.”
Sunderland, who are bottom of the league, will look to pick up back-to-back wins for the first time this season when they host third-bottom Hull City on Saturday.
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