Roker Roundup: Sunderland linked with move for 6ft3 Premier League powerhouse midfielder

Premier League midfielder linked

Sunderland have been linked with a move for Aston Villa midfielder Aaron Tshibola according to report in the DR Congo.

The Congolese international was recently told by Villa that he can leave the club on a free transfer - according to report in the Daily Mail - and FootDRC claim Sunderland are interested in his services.

The 6’3” midfielder spent the last 18 months on loan at Scottish Premiership outfit Kilmarnock but is out of favour at Villa Park and is apparently free to find a new club, despite having one year remaining on his contract.

He signed for Villa from Reading for a fee of around £5m back in 2016 but has barely featured for his parent club and has spent most of the last three years out on loan at Kilmarnock, MK Dons and Nottingham Forest.

Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Sunderland scouts watch Shankland star

Dundee United opened their league campaign on Saturday with an impressive 4-1 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle, with summer Sunderland target Lawrence Shankland scoring all four goals in his first league start for the club.

The Evening Telegraph claim that Sunderland - and Southampton - had scouts watching on from the stands during the game but do not mention who they may have had their eye on.

17-year-old Dundee United midfielder Scott Banks has been catching the eye of many clubs however, with Leeds United, Crystal Palace, Southampton and Manchester City all credited with an interest.

Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images

Kilbane turned down Liverpool for Sunderland

Kevin Kilbane signed for Peter Reid’s Sunderland in a £2.5m deal from West Bromwich Albion back in 1999.

The former winger has been talking about that move to sportsjoe.ie and revealed how Peter Reid sold the club to him, as well as how Liverpool tried to sign him at the same time but with the plan of putting him in the reserves initially:

He sold me the idea, ‘look, you’re going to come in, you’re part of my side, you’re immediately into the first 11, you’re going to be part of the team until the end of the season’ and when a manager is saying that to you when you’re moving into the Premier League, that’s what sold it for me.

I could’ve gone to Liverpool instead of Sunderland. Gerard Houllier was the manager at the time and the message I was getting from Gerard Houllier was ‘you’re going to come in and you’re going to be around the reserve team for a year’.

I felt, at the time, I was playing international football, I had played over 150 league games and I wanted to play football. That was how it was.

I could’ve gone to bigger clubs in terms of stature and trophies they had won historically but I wanted to go and play first team football and Peter Reid gave me all the messages that I was going to do that.