It will continue be a long summer for Sunderland after narrowly losing to Charlton Athletic in this year's League One play-off final.

The Black Cats are consigned to another year in League One, after consecutive relegations from the Premier League to the the third tier in the 2016/17 and the 2017/18 seasons.

However, Sunderland will remain as serious promotion contenders in the 2019/20 season, with the stature of the club and the huge fanbase that they have. Fans will be desperate for the club to return to the Championship this season after play-off disappointment in May.

Sunderland are currently monitoring potential targets to help them do this. One of these potential signings is current Walsall captain George Dobson.

The Express and Star have reported that the Wearside club are closing in on this signing, which will be their sixth signing of the summer already.

These are two benefits and two drawbacks of Sunderland completing this deal for the Walsall skipper.

Pro: He's a mature leader

At just 21, he's already the captain of a professional football club. This is an impressive asset to boast for any young player. Leadership is an underrated attribute to have, especially in the dressing room.

This just shows he has the maturity to handle the other players at the club, which will be needed if Sunderland are to succeed in gaining promotion back to the Championship. His leadership will be needed at Sunderland, even if he isn't the captain at The Stadium of Light.

Dobson has also spent a year out in the Netherlands playing for Sparta Rotterdam. What he's learnt at the Dutch side whilst spending time playing football in a different country could also be very valuable in making him an even better personality to have at Sunderland.

Pro: He can play in a number of positions

The midfielder is also very versatile. Sunderland may need this versatility if a number of players pick up injuries during the league season, which is natural considering the 46 league games they have to play.

According to the Sunderland Echo, Dobson can also play in defence as well as in midfield, with the latter being his best position. Sunderland may look to recruit in other positions if Dobson can perform well in defence, which will be useful to manager Jack Ross.

The central midfielder will be needed to shield the Sunderland defence as the team look to decrease the 47 goals they shed in the league last season.

Con: Arguably won't be the key to promotion

Even though Dobson can play in a number of positions, he probably won't be the difference between promotion and disappointment for the Black Cats in the 2019/20 season.

The goalkeeper and central defence will be ultimately be in charge of keeping as many clean sheets as possible. Mistakes in these areas could be detrimental to the success of this Sunderland side.

On top of this, the attackers must have their shooting boots on this season and improve on their already respectable 80 goals that they scored in the league in the last campaign.

Con: Dobson may fetch a high fee

Clubs mostly value their captains as one of their most valuable players. Walsall clearly see Dobson as an integral part of their squad, being captain at just 21.

He's also been one of the first names on the team sheet ever since signing from Sparta Rotterdam in January 2018 and will fetch a reasonably high fee.

Would Sunderland be better off find alternative targets? This might be something that Sunderland are already doing if they aren't as close to signing Dobson as reports suggest.

However, Sunderland have got themselves a good player if he does sign.