Generally speaking, I’m not fond of lusting after loan players, lest I come across like a lovesick Take That fan circa 1996, desperately hoping that news of their breakup wasn’t actually true and that things could be worked out.
As good as Yann M’Vila was during his brief spell at Sunderland, I always felt the #CansForYann movement that gained traction as we sought to bring him back for a second spell was a little bit excessive, and I didn’t feel the need to place a candle in my window in the hope
that Callum Styles would convert his 2023/2024 loan into a longer-term arrangement, either.
However, that was then and this is now, for the loan players we tend to sign nowadays tend to be genuine game-changers — or at the very least, high quality additions that can add an awful lot to the team.
With that in mind and the case of Lutsharel Geertruida, whose presence in the Sunderland ranks last season was as valuable as it was intriguing, I’ll gladly make an exception to my longstanding rule; indeed, I’d love him “Back For Good”, just to milk the 1990s boyband angle a little bit more.
On Wednesday, after weeks of speculation and rumours that he would be moving on this summer, the mood music seemed to hint at a change of course, and contained within the article that accompanied our “retained and released list” was a snippet that gave hope to those of us who’d love to see the dynamic defender remain a Lads player for 2026/2027.
Meanwhile, the club can confirm it remains in discussions with Lutsharel Geertruida.
Hardly a statement along the lines of “The club wishes him well in his future endeavours”, I’m sure you would agree, and it left the door open for what would be an immensely popular reunion and a permanent switch to the Stadium of Light.
It goes without saying that Geertruida is an exceptional player.
He’s a genuinely brilliant defender with supreme athletic ability who boasts an abundance of class on the ball and arguably found himself somewhat underused during the 2025/2026 season.
That in itself was quite something, and it reaffirmed the fact that the water mark for the ability of Sunderland’s Premier League starters is now so high that even a player of his class perhaps didn’t quite see the amount of game time many felt he deserved, with the question of who has the strongest claim for the starting role at right back not definitively answered by Régis Le Bris.
Trai Hume’s consistency, wholehearted approach and ability to ride out spells of adversity — to the tune of being the only Sunderland player to appear in all thirty eight league games last season — was admirable even when he was moved into a somewhat ill-fitting hybrid midfield role.
That said, Geertruida never let anyone down when called upon and with the RB Leipzig loanee currently in the USA having been called up by Ronald Koeman in place of Arsenal’s Jurrien Timber, there seems to be a genuine hope that he could become the latest permanent addition to the ranks — and what a boost that would be ahead of our first foray into the Europa League next season.
Would it be worth it? Of course.
If all the pieces fitted together, all parties could agree on terms and a deal could be thrashed out, the notion of signing Geertruida on a permanent basis feels like one of the most glaring no-brainers in the recent history of our club.
As the rumour mill begins to spin like a Hurricane’s propeller and the likes of Fabrizio Romano deliver the latest hot gossip, you’ll hear words such as ‘depth’ and ‘reinforcements’ being flung around like confetti in red and white circles in the weeks that lie ahead — and rightly so.
We certainly don’t need a complete rebuild but we do need to augment what we’ve already got with quality and reliable options in key positions.
Assuming we can keep the bulk of the group together, seven or eight quality additions ought to do it and although the demands of a domestic and European campaign are sure to push Sunderland’s squad even further, having a player like Geertruida in the fold would be a godsend, but whether he’s as eager to stay as the fans are to keep him, only he knows.
One hopes that he continues to feel the love from the Sunderland supporters and that he sees the same amount of potential at the club that we do. Being able to offer European football should be an ace card as we aim to bolster the squad, but will it also be enough to convince someone like Geertruida that his future prospects would be best served at the Stadium of Light?
He’ll be a player in high demand and contingency plans will exist for situations much as this, but the upsides to signing Geertruida are so many and the downsides so few that it would almost certainly feel like something of a fumble if we didn’t do everything in our power to make him our first big signing of what’s sure to be an exciting summer.
Let’s hope for some positive news in the near future, and in the meantime, I’m off to create and print a giant “WE LOVE YOU, LUTSHAREL!” poster. The overtures start here!
