Aaron Connolly F Sunderland b.2000

[Razors left peg]

I'm disappointed he's got another chance this big, all season in L2 is what he deserves and might have been good for him

[liamoo11]

That's unexpected (if not unwelcome)

I presume there's a pay cut there. Maybe a bit early yet for a pay as you play deal?

Fair play to him must have impressed in training great to see him recovering from that bad head injury. Not that i know anything about it but sunderland seem light in the central attacking area with no obvious outstanding player so hopefully he can get minutes and if he does he will get goals like at hull I think

[Rayzor]

Great signing for Sunderland, next season of Sunderland till I die should be very interesting, as footballer though, not too sure.

[Stuttgart88]

The owner of the Glass Spider will be happy.

[Eirambler]

Officially confirmed now, signed until the end of the season.

Eight months to save his career? Or maybe someone else will give him another go next season if this one doesn't work out.

Will be interesting to see what kind of shape he's in. The PFA were running training sessions all summer to help keep out of contract players fit, but I didn't see any mention of Aaron ever showing up to them.

Interesting comments from Sunderland - looks like they're going into this with their eyes open anyway.

“Aaron needs an opportunity to re-establish himself and to reset the perception of him as a professional athlete. It wasn’t long ago that he was scoring goals in the Premier League and playing for his national team, but he has suffered some setbacks. We all handle challenges differently and when it comes to responding, sometimes we don’t get it right immediately. At Sunderland, he’ll have the environment and support to perform and an opportunity to showcase his ability. It’s an important 17-game period following the next international break and we believe Aaron can add value to our squad during that period. We look forward to helping him settle and supporting him in that process.”

[Razors left peg]

Officially confirmed now, signed until the end of the season.

Eight months to save his career? Or maybe someone else will give him another go next season if this one doesn't work out.

Will be interesting to see what kind of shape he's in. The PFA were running training sessions all summer to help keep out of contract players fit, but I didn't see any mention of Aaron ever showing up to them.

Interesting comments from Sunderland - looks like they're going into this with their eyes open anyway.

“Aaron needs an opportunity to re-establish himself and to reset the perception of him as a professional athlete. It wasn’t long ago that he was scoring goals in the Premier League and playing for his national team, but he has suffered some setbacks. We all handle challenges differently and when it comes to responding, sometimes we don’t get it right immediately. At Sunderland, he’ll have the environment and support to perform and an opportunity to showcase his ability. It’s an important 17-game period following the next international break and we believe Aaron can add value to our squad during that period. We look forward to helping him settle and supporting him in that process.”

Ive never seen a statement like that from a club signing a player, pretty extraordinary to call him out like that, even if its completely justifiable.

Bottom line is, the best version of Aaron that we seen all too briefly is a Premiership quality striker. Between fitness and attitude Im not sure hes even a L2 striker at the moment so its a huge few months for him to see does he actually care enough to have a good career.... or will he be sitting on a bar stool in 30 years pointing to his tattoo and talking about how he scored a couple of Premiership goals back in the day.