Duncan Watmore could very soon be the name on everyone’s lips within the footballing world. After winning the player of the season award in the Under-21 league last season, he went on to be awarded with a place in the team of the tournament and was voted as the revelation at this summer’s Toulon Tournament. He is now on the verge of the Sunderland first team this season, and has scored twice when coming on as a substitute. Add this to the first class honours degree in Economics and Business Management he has recently received and surely it is only a matter of time before the talented and intelligent youngster Duncan Watmore is terrorizing many a defence in the Premier League and at International level in the very near future.
A scout from Manchester at a recent match, asked the person next to him: “Where did Sunderland get him.?”, “Altrincham” came the reply. “How on earth did we miss him?” was the stunned response from a man who knew fine well that Altrincham was in Manchester United’s catchment area. This scout was obviously unaware that Manchester United released Watmore when he was 12 years old.
After being released by Manchester United, he joined Altrincham at the age of 16. After a brief spell on loan at Northern Premier League Division One North side, Clitheroe, he broke into Altincham’s first team on a regular basis for the 2012/13 season, scoring 14 times in 39 appearances.
Sunderland had Watmore watched a number of times during that season and signed him for an undisclosed fee in May 2013. He made his Sunderland debut in January 2014 during the 3-1 victory against Carlisle in the FA Cup third round, coming on as a substitute and impressing in his short time on the field. At the end of that month he joined Scottish Premier League side Hibernian on loan for the rest of the season. During his time at Easter Road in which he did miss several games through injury, he made nine appearances, scoring once. Watmore returned to Sunderland after the loan spell ended.
Last season, after scoring 11 goals along with some exceptional performances in 18 appearances for the Sunderland U-21 side, (a broken leg limited his appearances) he was named the Barclays Under-21 Premier League Player of the Season. This form and award caught the eye of the then England U-20 coach Aidy Boothroyd. He made his debut at the Toulon Tournament for the England U-20s, scoring twice and registering two assists. He was named in the official team of the tournament as well as being voted the revelation of the tournament.
In August 2015 he was called up to the England U-21 squad for the very first time. Speaking about his experience at U-21 level, Watmore had this to say: “It was great but I should’ve scored. I had a chance and I should’ve taken it, but to get an assist on my debut and to win the game was great and I enjoyed the experience; my family were there as well which was nice.”
This season Watmore has made the transition to a first team squad member with ease. He came on as a substitute to make his league debut against Norwich City and scored. He also came on as a substitute in the League Cup victory over Exeter City, scoring Sunderland’s fifth goal of the evening.
If he can keep up this rate of progression then Sunderland and England surely have a star on their hands and one that could save Sunderland millions in the transfer market in the future. At 21 he is still young and if he keeps improving then this intelligent and talented young man can go as far as he wants to in the game. Keep the name Duncan Watmore in your mind as he could really be a star of the future.
