No, your eyes do not deceive you – Sunderland have bought a player!

Article by e-Sunderland Correspondent Ben Mummery

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Jack Rodwell has signed from Manchester City on a five year contract, for a fee believed to be in the region of six million pounds plus add-ons, rising to around ten million pounds.

Rodwell is a central midfielder, who spent five years at Everton before being snapped up by Man City, only to be frustrated by long periods of injury, as well as struggling to shine out in a squad full of international mega stars. Indeed, since 2012, Rodwell has made only 16 league appearances for the Sky Blues, scoring two goals.

Most fans will remember him from his Everton days, as a box-to-box player with a good engine, and a good eye for a forward pass.

So let’s have a think about what this means for Sunderland on the whole.

Firstly, it’s nice to see the club flex it’s wallet muscles a little. There’s clearly been pressure on the manager and director of football, Lee Congerton to get active in the transfer market, and it’s pleasing to see some money being spent on what is clearly a good player and a known quantity – all in all, no complaints there!

So what does it mean for our playing squad?

In Cattermole and Bridcutt, we have two capable holding players. Jordi Gomez represents a little more of an attacking and creative central option, while Larsson can play centrally if needs be, though most fans will agree he is better stationed to the right. El Hadji Ba is another promising upcoming player, but he is yet to be proven in the first team. Rodwell has decent experience, and will fit in nicely alongside any of the above, or any combination of the above. Sunderland fans have been crying out for a little something special in central midfield, and hopefully in Gomez and Rodwell, we’ll find what we need.

With regards the overall picture, there are still some large gaps to plug. Most fans would surely agree, that we really do need a central defender with some pace so play alongside the pre-historic O’Shea and Brown. It has emerged that Valentine Roberge wishes to stay at the club and fight for his place, so this could be an option, but he will need to show some considerable improvement from last season.

Billy Jones and Patrick Van Aanhold have been added as full backs, but another would not go amiss, while another wide man to complement Johnson and Giacherinni would also be a welcome addition.

A striker is a must also, especially with more drama than the Eastenders omnibus apparently rolling on in our forward department thanks to messes Wickham and Borini!

There are some imminent signings expected with Virgini apparently on the cusp of a new deal, and as mentioned, the ever on-going Borini saga still to be resolved.

Either way, there have been some definite steps in the right direction from the club in the last few days, and to see some money finally spent is a welcome thing.

One just can’t help but wonder, what if these deals had been done weeks ago, and the players had been afforded a few weeks to gel? What if they’d all been to Portugal together, and enjoyed a pre-season trip as a team? Why must these things be left so late with Sunderland?

Keep updated on our @e_sunderland twitter handle for most rumours and news, and let’s see how things play out in the next few days.

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