Ex-Sunderland man reveals David Moyes 'lie' and blocked transfer moves to Barnsley and Hartlepool United

Former Sunderland man Rees Greenwood has revealed details of a blocked transfer move under ex-manager David Moyes which stunted the attacker’s long-term development.

After signing for Sunderland at a young age, the winger propelled himself to the first-team fringes under Sam Allardyce, who eventually handed Greenwood his Premier League debut against Watford in 2016.

In the same year, the Winlaton-born attacker also made England under-20 appearances alongside Marcus Rashford and Harry Winks whilst making steady progress under Allardyce, who was keen to integrate Greenwood into the senior set-up alongside several other youth team players. That, however, all changed when David Moyes assumed control at the Academy of Light.

“After the Watford game; me, George Honeyman and Tommy Robson were all given first-team programmes during the off-season,” Greenwood told The Echo. “Then the first day we came back into the Academy of Light, we walked into the reserves changing room and our numbers and names weren’t there.

“The kitman came in and said we were in the first-team changing rooms. It was the three of us and Tom Beadling. We went away for pre-season with Sam and then that’s when we found out that he was going to England. David Moyes came in and told us that nothing would change and that we would be involved.”

After replacing Allardyce, Moyes signed Steven Piennar, Bryan Oviedo, Victor Anichebe and Joleon Lescott having worked with the four players at his previous club Everton during a long spell at Goodison Park. Sunderland were locked in a relegation dogfight during the Moyes era and eventually bowed out of the Premier League after a 10-year stay.

“He made a load of signings that summer - all the old Everton boys,” Greenwood remembered. “We ended up getting moved straight out of the first team dressing room and back to the reserves within the space of five weeks. He said it wouldn’t affect us training with the first team but that was a lie. After two weeks we were back with the reserves.

“We had so many chances to go out on loan but Moyes blocked it and said we needed to stay as squad players. He told us we would be involved and we weren’t, we were training with the reserves and we just weren’t developing. I had been playing in the reserves since I was 17 or 18. I had been playing at that level for four years and I needed to go out on loan but at that time, the club wasn’t a good place for youngsters really.

“I loved my time there but the club was run so bad. Look at Embo (Elliot Embleton). Embo went on loan to Blackpool and got a promotion at a perfect time and came back to the first team. I could have been out on loan the year before Sunderland got relegated. I could have been on loan to Barnsley, I could have had a year in the Championship.

“We weren’t even allowed to go out on loan to the likes of Hartlepool. They would come in and say, ‘Can we take him for a month?’ And the answer would be no. Playing men’s football would have been massive for me at that age. Even playing in the National League would have helped me.”

Greenwood is now working alongside former Sunderland teammate Carl Lawson as the duo aims to help the next generation of footballers in the North East, more details can be found here.