Sunderland sign £10m Wolves midfielder and bring home fans' favourite in £94m dream XI - if they get promoted

For Sunderland fans, most of the last couple of months have been spent being told that just about every half-capable player at the club will leave the Stadium of Light this summer.

Several teams supposedly want Dennis Cirkin, Chris Rigg is the subject of interest from Spurs, Everton allegedly want Daniel Ballard and practically every team with a few spare quid in the bank seems to want Jobe Bellingham. It’s probably a little depressing hearing about the future dismantlement of a successful squad every five minutes.

To offer a little bit of levity, then, we decided to take a look at just what Sunderland’s squad might look like if they get promoted. They’re more or less nailed on for a spot in the play-offs, and past that point – why not? And just how many of their young and talented stars would the Black Cats be able to keep this summer if they do make it to the Premier League?

Continuity in defence if Sunderland go up

GK: Anthony Patterson; LB: Dennis Cirkin, RB: James Justin, CB: Chris Mepham, Daniel Ballard

Let’s start with the headline – if Sunderland make it to the Premier League next season, then the defensive players linked with a move away, a list which includes Cirkin, Ballard, right-back Trey Hume and goalkeeper Anthony Patterson, will likely stay put.

Cirkin will surely have offers but why leave a stable starting gig in the top tier to scrap for a squad place? Similarly, Ballard won’t need to battle for minutes with Jarrad Branthwaite at the new Everton stadium. We suspect that most if not all of Sunderland’s players will stay put.

We also think it’s likely that Sunderland would make the loan deal which brought Wales international Chris Mepham to the North East permanent should they go up. It’s not clear how much Bournemouth want for the centre-back, but he’ll be for sale and it sounds like Regis Le Bris would like to keep him around if he can.

At right-back, we suspect Hume will stay but there’s no chance that the Black Cats don’t add a player, for depth if nothing else – in the absence of plausible transfer rumours, we wonder if former England international James Justin, who looks set to be relegated with one year left on his contract, might not a be a reasonable target.

Jobe Bellingham could leave either way

CM: Enzo Le Fée, Tommy Doyle, Chris Rigg

If there’s one player who we suspect would leave the club regardless of promotion, I’m afraid we think it’s Jobe Bellingham. So many strong teams are seriously interested in him, ranging from Manchester United and Chelsea to Crystal Palace and Borussia Dortmund, that we think he’ll be lured away regardless of Sunderland’s fate come the end of the campaign.

We do suspect that Rigg would stay put despite interest from Spurs and West Ham, however. As tempting as those moves would be, he’s at an earlier phase of his development compared to Bellingham and is more likely to stand pat and ensure himself first-team action.

We also believe that Sunderland would work hard to sign Le Fée permanently after a promising loan spell, and follow up on their reported interest in Tommy Doyle – the former Manchester City midfielder has impressed with Wolves when given chances but has struggled to earn minutes ahead of André Trindade and João Gomes. £10m has been floated as a possible valuation, although that’s largely paper talk so far.

New (and old) faces on the flanks

LW: Jack Clarke; RW: Kasey McAteer; CF: Wilson Isidor

Striker Wilson Isidor is another member of the transfer rumour club, but we suspect that he’ll stay even if Sunderland remain in the Championship next season – we do expect changes out wide, however.

Sunderland made a bid for Leicester’s Kasey McAteer in January and while that was rebuffed, we suspect a switch of divisions would see Sunderland have another, more successful, crack at getting their hands on the youngster to compete with Patrick Roberts for the right wing role.

And while we suspect Romain Mundle will get his chances on the left in the Premier League, we would be amazed if Sunderland didn’t try to sign someone else – and why not Jack Clarke? He hasn’t shone at Ipswich Town, a team who may well go down anyway, and it’s hard to imagine that both club and player wouldn’t be keen on a reunion. It’s a romantic notion, anyway, and perhaps not all that fanciful.

Of course, if Sunderland don’t get promoted, the squad will look very different. Would Rigg or Cirkin stay at the Stadium of Light? Could the club afford Le Fée and Mepham in the second tier? Perhaps not. A different kind of rebuild will likely be in order if they can’t earn promotion – this could be the biggest couple of months in Sunderland’s recent history.

Starting XI: Patterson; Dennis Cirkin, James Justin, Chris Mepham, Daniel Ballard; Enzo Le Fée, Tommy Doyle, Chris Rigg; Jack Clarke. Kasey McAteer. Wilson Isidor. Valuation: £94m.