Sunderland offer Nigeria-eligible teenage striker Ogunsuyi his first professional contract

NEWLY-promoted English Premier League side Sunderland have just offered teenage Nigeria-eligible striker Trey Ogunsuyi a three year contract in what is his first professional contract and catapults him into the big league.

Ogunsuyi, 18, was born in Bradford to Nigerian parents and has been a part of the Sunderland setup since he turned 10. Eligible to play for Belgium, England and Nigeria, at some stage, he will have to make a choice about his international future but for now, he is hoping to get to play in the English Premier League having been promoted to the Sunderland first team.

Over the years, Ogunsuyi worked his way up the youth ranks, making his debut for the under-18 side during the 2022/23 season and scoring 15 goals in 20 games across the U-18 and U-21 teams last season. He has been heavily involved in first team action since making his debut last January under Regis Lebris against Stoke City and has seen in action in Sunderland's first-team’s early pre-season preparations.

Ogunsuyi said: “I’m buzzing to have signed a new contract. I’ve been at this club since I was 10 years old, so to continue my journey here is amazing.  It’s always what you dream of as a Sunderland fan so when I got to play for the first-team, it was surreal, so I’m very grateful.”

Current English Premier League champions Liverpool, were linked with Ogunsuyi but Sunderland's academy manager, Robin Nicholls, was delighted the highly-rated forward ignored the move. He will be hoping that the youngster gets to see some action for the two times FA Cup winners and six times league champions.

Mr Nicholls added: “We are delighted to agree a new contract with Trey, continuing his time with the club for a further significant period. Kristjaan, Flo and I prioritise the future of this club and ensuring our most talented academy players are rewarded for their progress is an essential part of this.

“To this end, Trey joins several of our other young players who have signed their contracts over the past few months. Trey is an exciting player who has been handed his senior competitive debut by Régis already, spent this pre-season training and playing with the first team and is regularly selected for the Belgium youth national teams.

Because he has a Belgian mother, Ogunsuyi has already featured for Belgium's U-19 side and no doubt, they will be monitoring his progress. Sunderland have made several major signings ahead of the 2025/26 season, bringing in players that include Granit Xhaka, Habib Diarra, Enzo Le Fee, Simon Adingra, Chelmsine Talbi and Noah Sadiki among others.