Sheffield Wednesday legend and pundit Carlton Palmer has labelled Sunderland as ‘disrespectful’ for how the club have handled Patrick Roberts’ contract negotiations.
The former Celtic star has entered into the final year of his deal at the Stadium of Light and the club have been keen to further secure his services past June next year.
According to Sunderland Nation, the attacker has been offered a new three-year contract to remain with Tony Mowbray’s side. However, the outlet are also claiming that the Black Cats have not offered Roberts an increase in pay.
Speaking to Football League World, Palmer called the offer ‘disrespectful’ but admitted that nobody outside of the football club knows the full extent of the situation [quotes via FLW]:
“This is a strange one for me, Patrick Roberts at Sunderland has been offered a new three-year deal with no pay rise.
“The 26-year-old has been integral to Sunderland’s success, I think it’s a bit disrespectful but from the outside looking in, we don’t really know the whole situation,” he continued.
“We don’t know his salary, if his salary has increased automatically when they were promoted to the Championship in the 2021/22 season, they might feel happy with what they’re paying him.”
Former striker Ross Stewart was also handed a new contract during the summer, as the player had a year left on his previous deal, but this was turned down before Stewart was eventually sold to Championship rivals Southampton for a reported £10 million.
Roberts has been with Sunderland since 2022 but may leave within the next ten months should the two parties fail to agree terms over a new contract.
Writer’s View
Not every contract offer must come with a pay increase which is something that is often forgotten in the modern game when so much money is flying around.
However, Palmer does have a point. Roberts has been integral to the team’s success over the past year so perhaps if any player deserves an upped wage at the Stadium of Light, it’s him.
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