Josh Coburn decided to swap Sunderland for Middlesbrough at the tender age of 16 and with the striker now being touted for a future England call-up, the Black Cats may end up regretting not pushing harder to keep him at the Stadium of Light.

The teenage forward joined Middlesbrough in 2018 and has impressed in his four years at the club, breaking into the first team and earning a professional deal with the Teesside club.

After hitting 20 goals in just 40 appearances for the academy sides at Boro, it was always likely that Coburn would be promoted to the first team setup and he has done well on his few appearances for the senior side.

The 20-year-old already has six goals in 27 appearances for Middlesbrough, which included a memorable winner in a 1-0 triumph against Tottenham Hotspur last season.

In the summer, Coburn was sent on loan to Bristol Rovers in League One and he is certainly making his mark in League One, with five goals and three assists in 15 appearances thus far.

Rovers manager Joey Barton certainly believes in the Middlesbrough man's potential and recently tipped him to be an England international in the future.

He said: “For 20, you’ll struggle to see someone come into League One and handle the game at the level that he does,” Barton said.

“I’ve said it many times before I think he’s a real talent, Middlesbrough have got a fantastic prospect on their hands and we’re proud and privileged to have him in our team and he’s grown from the regular rhythm of games. You can see his performances growing week by week and again he was head and shoulders the quality player on the pitch.

“When you watch him play, it’s just the things he does - his composure, his touch and he’s very much baby-faced. If you saw a snapshot of his head you’d think he’s only 14 but he’s got that frame, but it’s not just that, it’s the way he uses it.

“Josh is a huge player in our team. But I think he has an enormous future out in front of him if he gets a little bit of luck with injuries, I think he could go on to play for England."

Given his impressive displays in League One, it is surely only a matter of time until Coburn is making his mark in the Championship and should the young striker go on to play for England in the future, Sunderland will massively regret not keeping him at the Stadium of Light when he was just 16.

Indeed, they should already rue their decision to relinquish him when they did, with the teenager very much possessing immense potential.