Sunderland have been quick off the mark with their transfer business this summer, already bringing in centre-back Nectarios Triantis and young midfielder Jobe Bellingham, the brother of now-Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham.
But that excitement may well be offset by possible departures, with Jack Clarke a target for a number of Premier League sides, while Amad Diallo has also returned to parent club Manchester United.
Black Cats boss Tony Mowbray has admitted it is "very unlikely" Diallo will return to the Stadium of Light next season – a loan switch to a Premier League club seems the most likely option – but that is not to say there are not adequate replacements out there.
Replacing the 14 goals and three assists Diallo provided in 39 Championship matches last season will be no easy feat, but Sunderland have shown with their impressive transfer business in recent windows that anything is possible.
According to a recent report by Sunderland Nation, Swansea City's young attacking midfielder Morgan Whittaker is one of those being eyed up to fill the void left by Diallo.
Who is Swansea City attacker Morgan Whittaker?
Whittaker impressed on loan with Plymouth Argyle in the first half of last season in League One, scoring nine goals and assisting another seven in 25 appearances for the Pilgrims.
That type of form was never going to go unnoticed, and so it proved in January when Swansea recalled the 22-year-old with the aim of bolstering their own attack.
However, Whittaker took to social media at the time to say he was "devastated" his time at Plymouth was cut short. The England U20 international clearly knew what awaited him, as he started just twice for Swansea in the Championship in the second half of last season.
Whittaker's future in South Wales now appears uncertain, with Sunderland perhaps looking to take advantage by tabling a bid for a player on wages of around £5k-a-week, according to Capology.
While Whittaker has not truly had a chance to showcase his talents in three seasons with Swansea, he caught the eye at Derby County when breaking into the first team in the 2019-20 season.
As pointed out by football talent scout Jacek Kulig at the time, the Englishman possessed good pace, dribbling skills and ball control, earning him the tag "flamboyant winger".
Whittaker did play out wide a couple of times last season, but his favoured position was playing through the middle of attacking midfield, featuring there 19 times from the start of games, as per WhoScored.
Comparing Diallo and Whittaker last season is made a little tougher by the fact the latter played across two divisions, including a league below. However, the pair were similar in terms of goals scored per 90 minutes (0.45 and 0.41 respectively), while Whittaker edged things in terms of assists – 0.29 v 0.10.
Both players were also very similar in terms of their shooting, with Whittaker finding the target from 39.3% of his efforts, compared to 39.1% for Diallo. Whittaker found the net from 0.11 of those shots; not too dissimilar to Diallo's 0.16.
They also each showed an equal willingness to win the ball back high up the pitch, with Diallo averaging 0.17 tackles per 90 minutes in the attacking third, while Whittaker averaged 0.21.
The truth is that Sunderland fans would easily take Diallo over Whittaker if they had the choice of signing both men this summer. But with the United man surely out of their reach, Whittaker seems as good a choice as any to land on the cheap.
After all, Sunderland have shown with the likes of Clarke, Ross Stewart and others that there are plenty of unpolished gems out there waiting to step up.
