Cash-strapped Sunderland cut costs by £10m a year

UNDER-PRESSURE Sunderland have managed to halve their wage bill by drastically reducing their squad.

A total of 23 players, some from the fringe of the first-team set-up and other youngsters, have been moved on since the Black Cats were relegated to Division One with debts spiralling towards £38m.

Chairman Bob Murray despite suffering the agony of letting go big names such as Kevin Phillips, Thomas Sorensen and Claudio Reyna believes the club's long-term future is far brighter as a result of cuts in expenditure thought to amount to around £10m a year.