Millwall want to sign Sunderland promotion star on loan, Alex Neil knows him well
Championship side Millwall are aiming to reunite Alex Neil with out-of-favour Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson this month.
Patterson has not featured for Sunderland in the Premier League this season, despite helping them to promotion through the play-offs last term.
The 25-year-old stopper has fallen out-of-favour under Regis Le Bris after Robin Roefs joined Sunderland in the summer window and became his number one choice in between the sticks.
Sunderland decided against selling Patterson before their return to the top flight, despite the Dutchman’s arrival, yet he could well leave the Stadium of Light soon to return to the second tier.
Millwall want Patterson on loan for the rest of the season
Patterson kept 14 clean sheets and conceded 42 goals in 42 league games last season, proving himself to be one of the Championship’s premier shot-stoppers.
His struggle for game time so far this term has seen rumours emerge of a potential January exit, and journalist Alan Nixon has now claimed that Millwall want to sign Patterson on loan.
Lions boss Neil worked with the Black Cats’ youth product as he led the Wearside outfit to League One promotion in 2022, and he is believed to be keen to leave for more minutes.
Southampton explored a potential loan move for Patterson in the summer, and they were linked to his services once more ahead of January, but have recently moved to sign Daniel Peretz on loan from Bayern Munich instead.
Neil rates Patterson highly after handing him his Sunderland bow
Neil was the first manager to trust Patterson to start games regularly for Sunderland as they chased League One promotion in 2022.
He praised him in April of that year after a string of impressive performances, saying: “I think with Patto, he has got better as games have gone by. He’s young and inexperienced, but he has come in and looked relatively solid.
“He’s had a couple of key moments for us and, particularly when you are playing for a team like Sunderland, because for large spells of the games just recently you don’t have anything to do, you need to make sure that your focus and concentration is there, and he has done that.”
The 25-year-old went on to be a key man for the Black Cats in the second tier, but has been replaced by Roefs this season, and he has been one of the Premier League’s standout stoppers, so looks unlikely to be dropped anytime soon.
Millwall are chasing promotion under Neil right now, sitting fifth in the Championship, and so the potential to help another club into the top flight under a familiar face could well tempt Patterson to move to The Den this month.