Jewison Bennette is a very exciting young player at Sunderland who the club will have high hopes for as he settles into life in English football.

The 18-year-old has made 11 Championship substitute appearances this season,and has been able to showcase his true potential in flashes.

The Costa Rica international is a squad player at the moment under Tony Mowbray, which is perfectly understandable due to his age, and the Black Cats have called on an ex-player to aid his transition into his new environment.

Julio Arca was a dependable winger for the Black Cats between 2000 and 2006, and presumably still lives in the North East, as the Argentine has taken up something of a mentoring role with Bennette.

Mowbray explained how the 42-year-old's relationship with Bennette is helping the club and the individual when he spoke to ChronicleLive.

He said: "Julio is a big help.

"He comes in a couple of times a week, he watches training, has a cup of tea with us and a chat, and then spends a bit of time with Jewison.

"I know Julio is a good man, he's a football guy, and I sit down with him and show him Jewison's clips from training and in U21 games and the flashes he has for the first-team.

"I talk to Julio and it is easy for him to then speak (to Jewison) in their natural language and have a chat about football.

"I trust Julio as a good human being, a good guy, to try and get the messages across.

"It will be easier for Jewison to understand because he is such a nice lad that (with me) he'll smile and nod even if he doesn't understand, but with Julio I know he will understand what's being said to him.

"I'm just trying to transmit the correct messages to him, keep him confident, keep him believing.

"He's a young boy and he's doing well yet his perception might be that he is not playing enough, but it's a journey for him.

"It's difficult for a young 18-year-old to come from Central America and think they can play in the Championship.

"I do know there were times when he was just agreeing with me, because there have been times when he hasn't then gone and done what we spoke about! That's understandable because of the language barrier.

"But with Julio there, I know the messages are getting through with a bit more clarity.

"The kid is exciting.

"We like him.

"And yet I'm not sure that at this moment we would take (Jack) Clarke or (Patrick) Roberts out of the team and put Jewison in, but it might be that in ten days' time on a Tuesday night after the third game in such a short period of time and they have done extremely well and their numbers are really high and we think there is a danger of somebody pulling up, I'd have no problem starting him because I can see the talent.

"My query at the moment has been his understanding of the information he has been given, but his English teacher has been here a lot and Jewison is improving, and with him talking to Julio I'm sure that by the start of next season, for instance, it won't be a problem."

With Leon Dajaku heading out in January, along with Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms effectively being removed from the forward line, Mowbray will be relying on contributions from Bennette more than he was in the first half of the season, and therefore the role of Arca may become even more crucial.

The Verdict

 

 

This seems like an incredibly smart move from the club, they are very fortunate to have someone of Arca's profile available to them to help in this capacity, but they deserve credit for reaching out, and it sounds as if the relationship will prove beneficial for Bennette and the team moving forward.

It is very difficult to imagine what it would be like to transition into a group of footballers who were all speaking a different language, especially with the majority of the Sunderland squad still feeling jubilant having won promotion last season.

Due to Bennette's age, his attacking output in the short term does not matter as much as ensuring that he settles in well to create an environment for him to develop and kick on in his career in the coming seasons.