Aouchiche out: The 3 Sunderland AFC players surely eyeing an early January exit | OneFootball

Sunderland will be looking to move on several squad players in January as they push for promotion.

Sunderland have enjoyed a fantastic start to the season and will rightly have their eyes fixed on the potential of a return to the Premier League for the first time since 2016/17.

Regis Le Bris’ side have been boosted by significant contributions from several of their young talents and look set to push for a potential automatic promotion at the end of the season.

Given their impressive progress under Le Bris this season and their influx of Championship-ready youngsters, there are several members of the squad who have naturally been forced to the fringes of Le Bris' plans.

With the January transfer window now upon us, here are some of the players who will surely be looking to move on from the Stadium of Light.

Nazariy Rusyn

It simply hasn’t worked out for the Ukrainian striker during his time in the North East.

The 26-year-old joined Sunderland last season after impressing in his homeland for Zorya Luhansk.

He netted just twice from 22 games in all competitions last season and has only been handed a handful of league minutes by Le Bris this term.

With Zenit St Petersburg loanee Wilson Isidor now leading the line effectively for the Black Cats, there is seemingly no way back for Rusyn at the Stadium of Light, who, at 26, will surely wish to move on to try and get his career back on track.

Back in early December, Le Bris admitted that Rusyn was one of three players who would be allowed to leave in the January window and that admission looks to be coming to fruition in the near future.

According to Sport.ua, Ukrainian sides FC LNZ Cherkasy and FC Metalist 1925 Kharkiv are interested in the striker, who appears to be moving on from Sunderland imminently.

Adil Aouchiche

The French midfielder was once very highly rated during his time at PSG as a youngster, but his career has hit the buffers in recent years.

He moved to Sunderland on a five-year contract back in 2023, but could depart the club less than two years into that deal.

The 22-year-old played under Le Bris at Lorient, but has struggled to have an impact so far at Sunderland, finishing last season with just two goals and two assists from 28 games.

Aouchiche appeared to have been frozen out by Le Bris this term, but impressed in his first start of the season in the Black Cats’ defeat at Stoke on 29th December.

Le Bris hinted to the Sunderland Echo, after the Stoke defeat, that Aouchiche’s future was still undecided and suggested that it is not impossible for him to work his way back into the fold.

However, with Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham both enjoying superb seasons in the Black Cats’ midfield, Aouchiche is unlikely to become a permanent fixture in the side, meaning he may still want to move on, either on loan or permanently, to try and revitalise his once-promising career.

Abdoullah Ba

Still only 21, Ba has featured fairly regularly for Sunderland over the course of the last two seasons.

He made 29 league appearances in 2022/23, having moved to Sunderland from French Ligue 2 side Le Havre that summer. Last term he played 39 times in the Championship, notching three goals and four assists, a season which potentially suggested bigger things were to come from the midfielder.

However, under Le Bris this term, opportunities for Ba have been almost non-existent, to the point where he started the academy team’s 2-2 draw with Gateshead in the National League Cup at the start of December.

Ba is another who will likely be made available for transfer in the upcoming window. According to the Northern Echo, Ba was a player who almost departed Sunderland back in the summer. He now looks set to do so in January instead.