Sunderland Transfers: 10 Players Derek McInnes Could Bring With Him

5. Joe Lewis

As Jordan Pickford's move to Everton nears, Sunderland left without a defined Number One outside of regular stand-in Vito Mannone. Outside of the aforementioned Sam Johnstone, Derek McInnes could look closer to home in tracking down a replacement for the prodigious stopper.

Joe Lewis heaped praise on McInnes for his work at Aberdeen, noting how "the manager has shown confidence in me. I spoke to him at the start of the season and he gave me some good direction on how he wants his goalkeepers to play."

McInnes had mutual praise praise for Lewis, commenting that "Joe is different class and as good as anyone I’ve worked with in the past as a goalkeeper. Joe gives that quiet assurance you want from your keeper. He’s loud when he needs to be loud and he is quiet when he has to be quiet. He has been fantastic."

As well as lining up a natural replacement for Pickford, the kind of positive working relationship that has clearly existed between the two could offer great support to McInnes as he looks to turn around the fortunes of the struggling Black Cats.

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Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett