LATEST UPDATE: The six worst signings in Sunderland AFC history

The Sunderland A.F.C. team is woefully underperforming, despite having a sizable supporter following. After being relegated by David Moyes, the Black Cats concluded a ten-year tenure in the Premier League in the 2016–17 season. After being demoted from the Championship once more, Sunderland’s situation only became worse. They are currently ten games into their third season in League One.

The hiring team is partly to blame for the demise of a large club of that caliber. Sunderland has made some really bad signings throughout the years, so I thought I would try to identify the six worst.

How would you begin?

6. Emmanuel Eboue – Free Agent to Sunderland (2016)

Emmanuel Eboue
Possibly the strangest player Sunderland has ever acquired. After the former Arsenal full defender was released by Turkish powerhouse Galatasaray in March of 2016, Sunderland made the decision to make a move for him. The Ivory Coast international was barred by Fifa from any football-related activities for a year after making just one appearance for Sunderland’s U23 team. Eboue received the ban for not fulfilling his obligation to reimburse a previous agent.

FIFA had mandated that Eboue, who never played for the Black Cats’ first team, pay agent Sebastien Boisseau an amount that he was legally entitled to under a deal that the two had discussed.

In September 2014, the former full-back for Arsenal was fined 30,000 Swiss francs (£21,000) and given four months to pay the punishment. Much to the dismay of then-Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce, Sunderland was forced to terminate his contract after the situation was not resolved.

He wasn’t among their worst acquisitions ever, so you could argue that, but it was too intriguing to ignore.

5. Jozy Altidore – Toronto to Sunderland (2013)

Jozy Altidore
Even though Jozy wasn’t a fantastic signing, Sunderland gained a lot from the subsequent events. In 2013, Sunderland made a proposal to sign the American international with AZ Alkmaar. Following the conclusion of negotiations, Sunderland announced the deal, which is thought to have cost around £10 million. After an unsuccessful loan transfer to Hull in 2009, this was his second stint in England. Between 2013 and 2015, Altidore made almost 40 Premier League games for Sunderland, although he only scored once, at the Stadium of Light against Chelsea.

But aside from that one goal, he had a very bad time at Sunderland. Even now, a bad striker is frequently compared to a bad Jozy to highlight how incapable they are of scoring goals. But Altidore was eager to return to his home nation in 2015. especially in Toronto.

Any supporter of Sunderland will recall what transpired next. Jermain Defoe moved to Sunderland in exchange for Altidore, who joined Toronto FC. A trade that helped Sunderland during the ensuing years, as Defoe continued to be the prolific goal scorer that he always was. even at the ripe age of 38 right now!

4. Lee Camp – Cardiff to Sunderland (2018)

Lee Camp
I published a piece about Sunderland before, and Jon McLaughlin was mentioned. This is due to the fact that he was among the club’s best recent acquisitions. McLaughlin joined the esteemed group of goalkeepers on Wearside who have left a lasting impression, including Montgomery, Pickford, and Mannone.

To be sure, Camp doesn’t even come close to that list. He might even be the worst goalkeeper Sunderland supporters have ever seen throughout their time as supporters of the team. 2018 saw Camp come on loan from Cardiff to the team, where he played in 12 games. Each of the twelve was a complete failure. Mistake after mistake after mishap.

During Camp’s tenure at the club, Sunderland supporters were concerned since he had no rivals for the shirt. There wasn’t a safe set of hands between him and the other senior goalie at the club, Jason Steele.

Amazingly, Camp moved to Birmingham the next season and has played in 80 games ever since.

His agent is really productive!

3. Didier Ndong – Lorient to Sunderland (2016)

The signing of Didier N’Dong Sundland’s record…

Ndong signed a five-year contract with Sunderland on August 31, 2016, for a club-record £13.6 million transfer price (not including add-ons). On September 12, 2016, he made his debut against Everton in a 3-0 loss.

To be fair, Ndong didn’t do too badly in his performances. Still, that’s definitely not the signing of a club record. In 2017, didier scored the team’s first goal in a 4-0 rout of Crystal Palace. Ndong did, in fact, spend some time in the Championship after Sunderland was demoted that season. Nevertheless, he was dismissed from Sunderland in what turned out to be his last game against Cardiff in January 2018. Things took a bad turn at this point.

Ndong was ultimately sent on loan to Watford, where he made an incredible zero appearances. A season later, he returned to the North East, only to discover that he would now be playing football in League One. It’s safe to assume that the concept didn’t sit well with him. Ndong disappeared without warning, failing to show up for training, refusing to communicate with the club, and eventually going missing.

Sunderland believed this to be a violation of contract, so they took the matter to court, where they ultimately prevailed. After Ndong’s contract was canceled, it was finalized.

I’m not sure what is aggravating this. The fact that their “biggest player” was let go from his contract, or the fact that their record signing is still only for an embarrassing £13 million.

Still, I liked his hair. They say there’s a silver lining for every cloud, don’t they?

2. Jack Rodwell – Manchester City to Sunderland (2014)

Rodwell Jack
You must not be a Sunderland supporter if reading his name doesn’t make your face pucker. Rodwell’s signing was a disastrous move. £10 million in front, £70,000 weekly pay, and a five-year deal. Do I really need to say more?

At first glance, the signing seemed to be going well. Rodwell had a storied career at Everton. a versatile midfield player with the ability to score goals and stop others from scoring at the opposite end. Due to his performance, he was able to move to Man City, where he was limited in his playing time due to injuries and competition for spots. Following the England international’s failure at Manchester City, Sunderland made the £10 million transfer for him.

Rodwell gained notoriety as an injury-prone player who made 76 appearances overall over three and a half seasons, with fewer than 45 league starts. In very few of those contests did he make an impact. Every once in a blue moon, Rodwell would manage to burst into a run and appear capable of performing, but this was an uncommon occurrence.

The Netflix documentary caught the moment that marked the turning point. Rodwell would skip practices and games while pretending to be injured, and when Sunderland tried to terminate his contract, he reportedly refused to play for the team that was paying his salary.

Like Camp, Rodwell too found a way to get a move to a team in a higher tier. He signed a short-term contract with Blackburn, was let go, and then got a move to Sheffield United, a Premier League team.

Agents, what are they?

1. Milton Núñez – PAOK to Sunderland (1999)

Milton Núñez
Do you recall him? Milton Nunez was signed by Sunderland 20 years ago for an alleged £1.6 million. There are several explanations explaining this peculiar symbol.

One idea surrounding the signing was that Nunez was actually playing for a third-division Uruguayan team with the same name as Nacional; this eventually sparked a lawsuit from Sunderland.

In 2017, the athlete herself addressed the matter, saying, “I questioned the Sunderland coach, ‘Why did you bring me here?'” I’m not the Eduardo Bennett that you saw on video. Additionally, they were searching for Adolfo Valencia, aka “The Train.” Considering that he was a tall black [guy], how did they compare him to me? He was a teammate of mine, but I’m not sure what I was doing there.

In other words, Sunderland was scouting another player. The player they had been scouting was Eduardo Valencia, despite the club’s insistence that it was Eduardo Bennett.

Milton Nunez ended up being the player they signed. A complex case of identity theft? A few too many alcoholic beverages? Nunez spent two years in England, making just one league appearance for Sunderland against Wimbledon and one League Cup appearance for the team against Luton Town before heading back to Nacional.

It’s an error that can only be connected to a team like Sunderland.

Danny Graham (Swansea to Sunderland) is at the top left. James Vaughan, upper right (Bury to Sunderland) Ricky Alvarez (Inter to Sunderland) is at bottom left. Papy Djilibodji, bottom right (Chelsea to Sunderland)

Who, in the opinion of Sunderland supporters, is the worst addition your team has ever made? Inform us!