They’ve described the move as a “major signal of intent” in capturing the Northern Irishman, who has done a fantastic job at Blackburn Rovers over the last six years having been headhunted to work as part of their recruitment and scouting set up.
They’ve also noted that his departure “came out of the blue” and that Blackburn - who regarded Harvey highly - have begun the process to replace him.
Harvey previously worked for Burnley before moving on to Blackburn and he heads to Sunderland to join the modern, forward-thinking footballing operation headed up by Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman.
This follows the news that James Young has been appointed as Head of Data and Analysis yesterday - Young, who founded his own consultancy, Mahoe Analytics having spent six years heading up Deloitte’s Performance Analytics practice - has never worked solely for a football club before, but is highly regarded and joins the club at an exciting time for all of us.