© Provided by Football FanCastCarabao Cup Second Round - Burnley v Sunderland
Russell Martin is desperate to sign Sunderland centre-forward Will Grigg this summer, according to reports.
What's the word?
Speaking after Milton Keynes Dons 5-0 win over Swindon Town on Saturday, Martin stated his desire to sign Grigg - who is currently on loan at the League One side - permanently this summer.
As cited by MK Citizen, Martin said: "We'd like to keep him, he fits in with what we're doing but he has a contract with another club. He has another year, and Sunderland could be in this league still. We'll be right in the mix to try and keep him. We'll have to wait and see."
On Grigg's performance in the fixture, in which the 29-year-old bagged four of MK Don's five goals, Martin remarked: "Today, he got the goals he deserved. He's playing in a way that he hasn't been asked to do before. He deserved the goals because he is so humble, has no ego, puts the team ahead of himself."
Why should Sunderland sell?
While it is undeniable that Grigg has impressed during his loan spell, with the Northern Ireland international scoring eight goals and providing three assists over his 18 appearances for MK Dons, this form is a far cry from anything the striker has managed since joining Sunderland in a £3.06 million deal from Wigan Athletic back in 2019.
This season, Grigg managed no goals or assists over his nine League One appearances for Lee Johnson's side before departing the club in January, while, in total, he has scored just eight times in 61 appearances for the Black Cats.
This means that, not even factoring in his £6,000-per-week salary, the centre-forward's goals have cost Sunderland around £382,500 per strike, an extraordinary amount of football for a team who are still playing their football in the third tier of the English pyramid.
As such, regardless of whether Sunderland achieve promotion or not this season, Johnson should do all he can to see that Martin does indeed manage to sign the 29-year-old on a permanent basis this summer, as it is abundantly clear that Grigg and Sunderland are not compatible with each other whatsoever.
Furthermore, while Grigg is in a fine run of form whilst out on loan, perhaps the Black Cats will be able to claw back slightly more of the rather astonishing transfer fee they paid for him, in comparison to how much they could have asked for when he was failing to do the business at the Stadium of Light.
In other news: Move over Sanderson: SAFC could save millions by unleashing "lovely" rarely-seen beast - opinion
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