Sunderland Transfers: 5 Recent Players Black Cats Should Not Have Sold

5. Blair Adams

Fans from outside of Sunderland may not have heard of this young man, those from Coventry now do. For years The Black Cats have been screaming for a left back ever since Michael Gray left a void when he decided to join Blackburn in 2004 and in the shape of Blair Adams, they had one right in the palm of their hands and they let him go. Adams - who is the only defender to feature in this list - was part of the youth set-up at the Academy of Light, graduating in 2010 and was highly influential in Kevin Ball's development squad. He was regarded as one of the best young left-backs the club had ever produced, with the added bonus of representing England with the Under-20 squad where he featured twice. Sadly for the 22-year-old from South Shields, he could not find a way into the first team - even though he travelled to two pre-season camps in a row, he was left to collect first team experience via loan spells with Brentford, Northampton and Coventry. It was with the latter that he found a new club to sign for after the two clubs agreed a two-year deal and is now flourishing with the team.