On This Day: 17 August 1995 - German international trialist arrives & England striker is linked

On this day in 1995, a German international arrived at the Charlie Hurley Centre on trial as Peter Reid looked to strengthen his forward line after a rather blunt attack had failed to impress in the opening couple of games this season.

Reidy, never afraid to invite a trialist or seven along for training, had this time turned his attention to 29-year-old Ludwig Kogl.

Kogl, who Reid had allegedly admired since playing against him for Everton in the 1985 Cup Winners Cup Semi Final against Bayern Munich, was on the move after a six-year stint at Stuttgart, and keen to play in England.

Although newspaper reports described him as a striker, Kogl tended to play deeper, as his goalscoring record – 8 in 149 games for Bayern, and 14 in 139 for Stuttgart tends to suggest.

Photo by Alain de Martignac / Onze / Icon Sport

Kogl, of course, was consigned to the extensive list of trialists who never made it at Sunderland, but another player we were linked with on the same day did end up joining the club.

29-year-old Paul Stewart, whose £2.3m move from Spurs to Liverpool three years prior hadn’t really worked, was available for a fee of £250,000. Bob Murray, a man with short arms and deep pockets, failed to stump up the cash and Reid was left looking at a loan deal.

Amusingly, Reid told reporters, “I’m talking to Roy Evans and hope to sort out a deal... but I don’t want to say anything before things are finalised in case I jeopardise anything.”

Photo by Neal Simpson/EMPICS via Getty Images

Stewart arrived on loan, was injured on his full debut away at Ipswich, and promptly returned to Liverpool.

He would re-emerge at Roker Park later that season, however, as – presumably to Murray’s delight – he was given a free transfer by Liverpool.

Stewart played a big part in seeing us over the finishing line that season as we went up as Champions, and – of course – netted a penalty in the last ever game at Roker Park the following year.