Sunderland midfielder Alan Browne will spend the season on loan at their North East rivals Middlesbrough, at his behest.
After reports emerged that Middlesbrough were set to sign Alan Browne on loan from Sunderland, the midfielder has made the trip across the region for the 2025/26 season.
The former Preston North End skipper was in high demand after Sunderland’s promotion to the Premier League, with Blackburn Rovers wanting to sign Browne.
[
Click to subscribe to the podcast ](https://www.youtube.com/@BeyondTheBackFour?sub_confirmation=1)
However, Browne revealed that he chose Middlesbrough over a return to Lancashire after a phone call with Middlesbrough boss Rob Edwards convinced him to make the Riverside move.
Following his arrival at Boro, the Championship veteran has made some bitter comments public about his Sunderland exit.
Alan Browne playing for Sunderland
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
In his first season at the Stadium of Light following his Preston exit, Browne featured 23 times in the Championship under Regis Le Bris, scoring one goal in the process.
Sunderland’s promotion to the Premier League has resulted in a colossal summer recruitment drive on Wearside, which has seen the likes of ex-Arsenal captain Granit Xhaka and Senegalese star Habib Diarra arrive as part of a total £162m spending spree.
Unfortunately for Browne, this has placed him even further down Le Bris’ pecking order, but he is not the only Sunderland promotion winner who moved on this summer.
Jobe Bellingham joined Borussia Dortmund as Tommy Watson headed to Brighton after his play-off final-winning goal, and Patrick Roberts has joined Birmingham City on loan for the season.
When asked if he was annoyed at being moved on this summer, Browne told BBC Tees Sport: “Yeah, of course. I think a lot of people probably are from last year.
“We’re the players who got the club there and you’d like to think you’d be rewarded with a fair chance the following season. I’m disappointed but I completely understand the club’s outlook.
“They want to stay in the Premier League, progress and get as high up the table as they can. They’ve made the choice to spend that money and bring in players who they think are capable of doing that and they didn’t think most of the previous players were.
“It could be a fair assessment because you see it so often where teams go up and come down and go back up and become a yo-yo team. They obviously don’t want to do that.
“Hopefully it works out. I’m not going to talk bad about them. I’m disappointed, which is fair, but hopefully I’ll get another chance next season.”
Browne’s grievances were aired with a tinge of bitterness regarding his parent club, but when analysing his outings last season for Sunderland, there is little credence to his comments.
Regis Le Bris holds Championship play-off final trophy
Photo by Alex Dodd – CameraSport via Getty Images
Browne arrived at Sunderland on a free transfer following his emotional exit from Preston after ten seasons of service at Deepdale as the perfect accompaniment for the young Black Cats squad.
However, a serious injury picked up in November and the season-long form of Chris Rigg and Bellingham as the outside ‘8s’ in Le Bris’ Sunderland system kept him on the bench for much of the campaign.
In his defence, 30-year-old Browne proved his Championship know-how when filling in commendably as a full-back due to Sunderland’s defensive injury issues ahead of the play-offs.
However, during the play-off campaign, Browne featured for just one minute when he came on as a late substitute in the semi-final first leg win over Coventry City.
Statistic Alan Browne for Sunderland
Games played 23
Goals: Assists 1: 0
Alan Browne’s record for Sunderland since signing in the summer window of 2024.
Moreover, Le Bris did not play Browne in the second leg victory or at Wembley in the final win over Sheffield United.
The Sunderland stars who played the biggest part in promotion remain on Wearside and will be given their chance by Le Bris to prove if they have Premier League credentials this season.
With Browne unable to cement a starting role at Sunderland, even in the Championship, would he be able to do so in the most competitive league in the world?
The answer in the minds of all Sunderland supporters is no, and unfortunately for the second tier stalwart, his bitterness over his loan move to Middlesbrough simply does not stack up.