Sunderland rivalling Toulouse for Heerenveen midfielder Thom Haye

Sunderland are heading into potentially exciting times after reaching the Championship play-offs this season, with the fanbase desperately hoping for new signings to come in the door in the coming weeks to bolster their squad.

One player who won’t be at the Stadium of Light next season is Edouard Michut, with the club and player mutually agreeing to not trigger the permanent option in his loan deal from PSG after making 25 Championship appearances for the club.

And Sunderland could potentially look to replace Michut with 28-year-old Heerenveen midfielder Thom Haye, as according to the Leeuwarder Courant the Black Cats hold an interest in his services – although there is also competition from French top flight club Toulouse.

Who is Thom Haye?

Unlike most of Sunderland’s recent signings under the Louis-Dreyfus ownership, Haye isn’t a young, up and coming player at the age of 28.

Haye is a ball-playing midfielder who would no doubt fit Sunderland’s style of keeping it on the floor and keeping it moving, and he started out at AZ Alkmaar in their academy before becoming a professional in 2012.

He moved on to fellow Dutch club Willem II in 2016 and two years after he moved to Italy where he joined second tier side Lecce, but lasted just one year there after failing to get many opportunities.

Haye’s career since departing Lecce has been spent in Holland – he signed for ADO Den Haag in 2019 and then a few months later joined NAC Breda of the second tier, spending two years at Parel van het Zuiden.

And since January 2022, Haye has been at Heerenveen, where last season he scored three goals and notched three assists in 32 Eredivisie appearances, as well as racking up seven bookings in that time.

Would Thom Haye be a good signing for Sunderland?

With Michut not signing permanently and Corry Evans unlikely to be back from a ruptured ACL until the end of the year, it would be wise for Sunderland to add another midfielder to their ranks.

Pierre Ekwah and Dan Neil formed a good partnership towards the back end of the 2022-23 season, but simply replying on the pair would be unwise and competition needs to be brought into the fold.

Haye hasn’t really done it outside of Holland, but he’s clearly showed some form for Heerenveen over the last 18 months and with a year left on his contract at the club, he could be picked up for a relatively cheap fee and bring the experience in the engine room that the club perhaps lack right now.