Former Huddersfield Town and Brentford midfielder withdraws availability as he looks to leave Sunderland

The attacking midfielder joined the Black Cats in 2021, sealing a move after three-and-a-half years in West Yorkshire with Huddersfield. He has since racked up over 100 appearances for the club but has now expressed his desire to move on.

Ahead of their Championship clash with Stoke City, Sunderland issued a statement that read: “On Friday morning, Alex Pritchard informed the club that he was no longer available for selection and he subsequently withdrew from today’s matchday squad.

“The midfielder also expressed his desire to leave SAFC with immediate effect. The club will be making no further comment at this moment in time.”

Pritchard has made 23 appearances in the Championship this term, but just nine have been from the start.

His contract expires at the end of the season but Sunderland’s sporting director Kristjaan Speakman recently confirmed the club had offered fresh terms.

As reported by Sports Illustrated, he said: "From Alex’s perspective, we’ve made the decision more recently to offer him an extension to his contract. We wouldn’t normally do that because we’d normally do that as part of our succession planning somewhere around March or April time.

“But we just felt that in conversations with him, that was something we probably needed to do because of the situation and where his head was at more than anything. “I think that’s the right thing for the football club to do, and he is in a really good position. He’s in the team, and I’m sure he’s happy.”