Reading striker Mark McNulty has joined League One Sunderland on loan ahead of the 2019/20 season, as the third tier side look to fire themselves to promotion.

The 26-year-old Scottish striker first arrived at the Madejski Stadium last summer after joining from Coventry City, who had just won League Two promotion through the play-offs with McNulty's help.

Although the striker came with a lot of promise and several goals to his name in that previous season at Coventry, McNulty has only scored one goal for the Royals and was part of a group of Reading players who were transfer-listed this summer by the club.

The striker is Sunderland's first loan signing this summer and the Black Cats will desperately be trying to gain promotion to the Championship for their supporters. These fans have have suffered in the past few years, including witnessing included back-to-back relegations.

Here are two pros and two cons to Sunderland signing the 26-year-old Championship striker on loan for the 2019/20 season.

Pro: Cheap loan deal

Financial Fair Play is something that all clubs have to consider when making signings in the transfer market. This applies especially to Sunderland who are not bringing in the income they used to when they were competing in the Premier League a few seasons ago.

The signing of McNulty is only for this season so if this move does not work out for the club, they know that the striker will be heading back to the Madejski Stadium next summer with no extra financial loss.

This loan signing also gives Sunderland the opportunity to spend transfer fees on other players that they need to bring in. Getting good value for money on their players could be the difference between Sunderland winning promotion or spending yet another season in League One in the 2020/21 season.

Pro: He has the ability to score numerous goals

McNulty scored 23 goals and picked up 6 assists in the League Two 2017/18 season. If he can display similar form at Sunderland, he could help the club majorly in their quest to get back to the Championship.

Even though it's important that numerous Sunderland players across the pitch contribute goals this season, a talisman like McNulty could take the pressure off the defence who will be looking to keep several clean sheets in the upcoming campaign.

As long as the 26-year-old gets the service he needs, he could perform very well just like he did for Hibernian at the end of last season. He could prove to be a very popular player on Tyneside.

Con: Better playing in a duo up top

McNulty played better at Reading when he had a partner up front to play with. This is something that Sunderland may need to consider if they want to get the best out of the Scottish player who is desperate to play first-team football.

However, constantly playing two up-front to accommodate McNulty could become very predictable and a weapon that League One opponents could use against Sunderland. This could force Jack Ross to leave the striker out of the first eleven on occasions, which won't allow the Scot to build on his performances.

Jack Ross will need to manage this carefully if he is to keep McNulty happy and playing well in League One for the club. If he's not managed properly, he may not be a valuable asset for the third tier side.

Con: Devoid of confidence?

Even though he managed to perform well for Hibernian in the second half of last season, McNulty's confidence must have taken a knock after being left out of the Reading squad and then finding out that he was on the transfer-list after just one season with the Championship side.

This is one of the reasons why the striker simply has to get off to a good start at the Stadium of Light if he is to make a major impact in the north this season.

Sunderland still have a lot of supporters coming to games even though they are in the third tier. McNulty could lose even more confidence when the supporters get on his back if he makes a bad start to the season.