After heading out on loan for the second half of the 2020-21 season, Will Grigg's time at Sunderland looked to be over after a torrid spell in-front of goal.
However Lee Johnson may have offered the Northern Ireland international an olive branch with his latest comments after he featured in the Black Cats' first pre-season friendly against Spennymoor Town at the weekend.
Grigg arrived at Sunderland on deadline day in January 2019 from Wigan Athletic for a £3 million fee but has managed to score just five league goals in 47 outings in his two-and-a-half years at the club.
The striker returned to familiar surroundings for the final few months of this past season, signing for MK Dons and he managed to rediscover some old form as he scored eight times and assisted another three goals in his 20 games.
The grapevine has linked Grigg with a permanent switch to the Dons, as well as a potential return to his old stomping ground at Wigan Athletic.
But there's a chance that he could end up remaining on Wearside, with Lee Johnson remaining coy on what his plans are with Grigg going forward.
"Whether Will stays remains to be seen, but he's here at the moment and we think he's a good player. We like him as a player," Johnson said, per the
Sunderland Echo.
"Obviously, that isn't always the key thing in term of whether a player wants to stay or not."
The Verdict
From what Johnson is saying, it sounds like the ball may be in Grigg's court as to whether he wants to stay at the club this season or not.
Grigg has had a rough time of things at the club so far but with Charlie Wyke set to depart, a vacancy has opened up in the striking department.
He has shown that he can still do it at League One level thanks to his stint at MK Dons, but it may just be that Sunderland and Grigg just aren't a good fit together.
A return to Wigan if they want to a deal would surely be really tempting for Grigg though - he already
admitted last summer that in hindsight that he should not have left the club to join Sunderland and there's perhaps unfinished business there.
With just one year left on his Sunderland contract, Grigg will have a decision to make and with live interest in his signature, you get the feeling that he will still depart this summer.
