Sunderland's 2020/21 campaign will be extended for at least another few weeks as their League One play-off place has been confirmed.

It's not where the club wanted to be as they has aspirations of automatic promotion, however a complete loss of form on the pitch, which saw a run of six games without a win for the Black Cats, has seen Hull City and Peterborough secure the top two spots in the league.

Sunderland went through Wembley heartbreak in 2019 under Jack Ross and they will be hoping for lightning not to strike twice, and out of everyone in contention for the play-offs Sunderland perhaps need the Championship most.

They have a lot of key players out of contract at the end of this season and the only way to secure a lot of them could be to get promoted, and if that happens Lee Johnson is likely to have considerable funds to play with ahead of the 2021/22 season.

Let's look at nine incoming and outgoing transfer developments that could occur on Wearside when the current campaign is concluded.

Going into this season, Sunderland as a club and the fans themselves probably didn't believe Wyke had the scoring season that has transpired in him, having scored just nine league goals in the two previous campaigns.

Something has just clicked though for the 28-year-old - he netted five times under Phil Parkinson but exploded into life under Lee Johnson and especially when Aiden McGeady returned to the squad, scoring 20 of his League One goals under Johnson's coaching.

It comes as no surprise due to his goal tally that Wyke is attracting transfer interest, with the likes of Cardiff City, Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest apparently in the hunt according to Sky Sports.

At this rate with Wyke's deal expiring at the end of the season, Sunderland should be really worried if they don't make it through the play-offs as you'd imagine that the striker will walk away for absolutely nothing.

Black Cats fans probably didn't think they'd see McGeady ever again after previous manager Phil Parkinson banished him from the squad in 2019, which led to him joining Charlton Athletic on loan.

The Ireland international's exodus continued all the way up until Parkinson was relieved of his duties in November, and after that Lee Johnson re-introduced him into the first team and it may have been a masterstroke.

McGeady's current stats read at 14 assists in 28 League One games - including setting up all four of Charlie Wyke's goals against Doncaster Rovers at the Stadium of Light - but he's another one with an expiring contract this summer.

However the fact that McGeady seems keen to re-sign and his words that head coach Johnson believes he can play for more years all look like positives, and if the wages are right expect to see the winger dazzle in the 2021/22 campaign.

Four Black Cats players were named in the League One Team of the Season this week - Wyke, McGeady, goalkeeper Lee Burge and the versatile Luke O'Nien.

O'Nien has played in a lot of positions for Sunderland - his first two seasons were spent at right-back for the majority despite being mainly a central midfielder for Wycombe Wanderers previously, but this season has seen the 26-year-old slot into a centre-back role for a while due to a mass amount of injuries in that position.

Regardless of where his best position really is, O'Nien's performances mean he's going to be a target for Championship clubs this summer, especially as he's another who is out of contract, and if promotion isn't secured in the play-offs then Sunderland will probably be waving goodbye to him.

It would be no shock whatsoever if Sunderland's expensive January 2019 signing heads out of the exit door for good this summer.

The Black Cats paid an initial £3 million fee that could rise to £4 million to boost their front-line for the rest of the 2018/19 season, but Grigg could only fire in four goals in 18 outings as Sunderland faltered in the play-off final at Wembley.

Grigg scored just once in 20 League One appearances last season and the writing was on the wall for him this season after not scoring in any of his nine outings before the January transfer window.

To be fair to the Northern Ireland international he's doing just fine at MK Dons on loan, where he's netted eight times in 19 games - including four in one match against Swindon Town - and there's likely going to be interest in him this summer.

It could be from the Dons, it could be from Ipswich Town to link up with Paul Cook again or it could be from Oxford United and Karl Robinson, but Sunderland will probably be just wanting to cut ties with Grigg and his wages and end his nightmare spell.

Let's look at a few Sunderland loanees now who could potentially join the club permanently - one of them being Jones who was rescued from the sidelines at Rangers.

The winger was hardly getting a look-in at Ibrox so he headed to Sunderland for the rest of the campaign and has made somewhat of an impact, scoring three times and assisting a further four goals in 18 outings.

A lot of those contributions came in the month of March but he will definitely still be of interest to the club beyond the end of this season regardless of what division they are in - but they face competition from Middlesbrough, which if that happened would signal a return to the club whose youth academy he graduated from for Jones.

And another player the club will be hoping to entice back to the Stadium of Light is Sanderson, whose season has been cruelly ended by injury and he will be a big miss for the play-offs.

The Wolverhampton Wanderers defender only became a regular in the first team when Lee Johnson came in as head coach, and once he got a run of games, Sanderson's class shone through.

His performances have been that good that Premier League and Championship teams are lining up to sign him this summer if you believe many reports - Sunderland's biggest rivals Newcastle have apparently been scouting the 21-year-old as well.

At this point it's not realistic to suggest a return to the Stadium of Light for Sanderson next season if they're still in League One, but if promotion is secured then Kyril Louis-Dreyfus' money could be put to good use by bringing him back to Wearside.

Now for some players that have either been linked to Sunderland in the last few weeks or in recent months, one of those being Melamed of St. Johnstone.

The 28-year-old Israeli striker arrived in Scotland back in October and in 14 Scottish Premiership games for Callum Davidson's side, he's scored five times.

It's not a world-beating record by any stretch of the imagination but Sunderland have been rumoured to be interested in his services, along with Ipswich and Portsmouth.

Melamed has been offered a new deal at the Saints but it's unclear whether he intends to sign it or not, so he could be an option for Johnson to bolster his front-line next season.

With it also being unclear whether or not Aiden McGeady or Jordan Jones will be at Sunderland next season, it would make sense if the club were looking at other options.

That's what new head of recruitment Stuart Harvey may be doing as Crewe Alexandra winger Owen Dale was this week linked with the Black Cats and a number of other clubs.

22-year-old Dale has scored 11 League One goals for the Railwaymen this season in what has been a breakout campaign and he's just one of a number of 20-somethings at Gresty Road who have developed into rising talents.

Dale is a realistic alternative to Jones should he not return next season and even though Sunderland fans may not think it would be a fashionable acquisition, Dale definitely has a lot of upside.

This would be an incredibly ambitious move, but if Sunderland get promoted through the play-offs they'll need a new left-back as Denver Hume is yet to sign a new deal and Callum McFadzean will need to be improved on.

They were linked to Hibernian teenager Josh Doig in the January transfer window, but since then there's been Premier League interest in the 18-year-old, with Leicester, Arsenal and Man City touted with a £1.5 million swoop.

Doig's reputation is rising having played 24 Scottish Premiership games this season, but at those top flight clubs that have been linked he would no doubt have to wait years to even get a chance in their side.

Sunderland would be able to afford his signature should they get promoted and also offer him first team football, so whilst it would be very ambitious, it's not out of the question that they can get their hands on a player that is tipped to win the SWFA Young Player of the Year.