This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Swansea City are considering a summer move for Sunderland winger Lynden Gooch, as per a report from Wales Online. 

The report states that the Swans are likely to face divisional competition for the 26-year-old's services, with Preston North End also being credited with an interest.

Gooch, who featured 45 times in all competitions last season, took his Sunderland appearances above the 200 mark during the last campaign, with the American coming through the youth ranks at The Stadium of Light.

With his contract set to expire at the end of this month, it remains to be seen what the immediate future looks like for Gooch.

Three of our writers here at FLW have shared their thoughts regarding Swansea's interest in the Sunderland man...

 

 

Declan Harte 

Gooch has done well to become an important part of Sunderland’s rise back to the Championship.

He would be a good addition to Russell Martin’s side as he would offer strength out wide that the current squad lacks.

But given Sunderland have been promoted it will likely decrease the chances that this transfer goes through.

The 26-year would be worth pursuing if an affordable deal can be agreed, but Sunderland are now more likely to play hard-ball considering they are rivals in the same division.

If that is the case, then Swansea should look to find alternative targets as Gooch would not be transformative enough to blow the budget on.

Carla Devine 

This would be a good signing for Swansea. Gooch had a strong season with Sunderland last year and having made 38 league appearances and contributed six assists for the Black Cats.

After his season it’s fair to say he deserves the step up especially as he gained promotion with Sunderland anyway and at 26-years-old, he should be able to adapt well.

He seems like a player who would fit well into Russell Martin’s team as a player with lots of versatility and someone who could do a job at either end of the pitch for the side.

This would be a solid signing that could definitely improve the side as the Swans look to push up table next season.

Ben Wignall 

Swansea definitely need to be in the market for wing-backs on either side of the pitch, although you'd imagine Cyrus Christie would be their number one target on the right flank.

Gooch though is someone who has had to adapt to playing in that position, but he's filled in at Sunderland quite well as they earned promotion to the Championship.

Is he good enough to be playing week in, week out for Swansea though? I'm not sure.

It would make sense if he were to sign a new deal at Sunderland and try to stick around in Alex Neil's starting 11, but I just could not see him going to Swansea and being a regular under Russell Martin - I think they can attract much better players.