The decks have started to be cleared at the Stadium of Light following Sunderland's exit from the League One play-offs at the semi-final stage.

There was huge disappointment amongst Black Cats fans when they went down 3-2 on aggregate to Lincoln City at the weekend, and that was after getting the tie back level after being 2-0 down from the first leg.

Sunderland fans would have been expecting promotion to the Championship and for new owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus to back Lee Johnson with millions of pounds in the transfer market, but now the club may struggle to keep their best players.

Luke O'Nien, Charlie Wyke and Aiden McGeady have all been offered new contracts but they're uncertain to be around next season, but what we do know is that seven senior stars will depart once their contracts are up next month.

One of those on the released list was Max Power, who signed for Sunderland in January 2019 and at the beginning of this past season he was named the captain after just eighteen months at the club.

 

 

 

 

Power played 52 times in all competitions last season in his natural position of midfield and also at right-back, but he's moving on after two-and-a-half years on Wearside.

A team-mate of his in the 2020/21 campaign, Dion Sanderson has also departed back to Wolves following the conclusion of his loan spell and and he's sent Power a message following confirmation of his Sunderland exit.

The Verdict

It may be a surprise to some that Power has departed after how many appearances he made over the course of his final full season at Sunderland.

He was just one outing behind Charlie Wyke to be the second most-played member of the squad in all competitions so you'd think that Lee Johnson would want to keep someone like that around - a player as well who has a lot of passion and would leave it all on the pitch.

For whatever reason though that's not the case but Power should not find it difficult to get fixed up with another League One club, and who knows - a return to a club like Wigan Athletic whose fans adore him could be on the horizon.