Sunderland have landed their first signing of the January transfer window, German centre-back Jan Kirchoff from Bayern Munich for around £1 million on a two-and-a-half year contract.
The 25 year-old flew to Wearside after leaving his teammates boarding for Bayern’s mid-season trip to Qatar. He spent last season at rival club Schalke and has been described as surplus to requirements by Munich.
However Sunderland don’t expect a Jerome Boateng, they want a quality centre-half to help save their season and this could very well be the man.
He featured 10 times for the German giants since moving from Mainz back in 2013, so will be looking to make a difference to the Sunderland first eleven almost instantly.
It’s understandable that Allardyce is looking to perk up his defence, with Kaboul injured until February and Wes Brown and John O’Shea not getting any younger, Kirchoff could be the first of two defenders joining the Black Cats this January, as the Mackems have been heavily linked with a £5 million move for Ligue 1 centre-back Lamine Kone.
Along with conceding 39 goals in their 20 games, it was a fantastic deal for the relegation-threatened club, and clean sheets could well be the difference in our survival bid. Big Sam was clearly delighted with his new singing from the German champions:
“Jan has a very good pedigree and even though he is still relatively young he has experience of football at the highest level, including the UEFA Champions League.
“He has real versatility as a player, being comfortable in both the centre back and midfield roles. He is desperately keen to experience the Premier League and our job now is to do everything we can to help him settle and adapt quickly to life in English football, so he can have a positive impact on our squad.”
