Sunderland have bagged former Rangers striker Kyle Lafferty on a short term deal until the end of the season, as revealed by their club Twitter feed.
The 32-year-old has featured in England’s top flight with Burnley, as well as Scotland’s Premier League with Rangers and Hearts. He last featured for Norwegian club Sarpsborg 08 but recently became a free agent, prompting Phil Parkinson to make a move.
He is a Northern Ireland international, having been capped 73 times by his country, scoring 20 goals. The last of those strikes came in 2016 against Azerbaijan.
“I’m looking forward to working with Kyle and pleased to work with him,” Sunderland boss Phil Parkinson said, whilst Lafferty told the club’s official site; “I know what it takes to play for a team like this and I’m excited to be here.
“I said when Sunderland approached me, I’d have come here at 21. To get this opportunity at 32, I’m blessed and excited. I’ve had about four or five weeks off, I’ve been doing running myself but training with a team is a different thing.”
The signing is bound to divide opinion on Wearside. They’ve had little luck with strikers over the last few seasons, with Will Grigg, Charlie Wyke and Marc McNulty all struggling to make a serious impact for the club.
Lafferty’s signing has certainly got plenty of fans talking on Twitter, from across a broad spectrum of teams as you’ll see below.
Fair play to him getting a club the size of Sunderland. Good luck big man WATP ?????????
— King of the castle (@hiyalad) January 13, 2020
?? would have him back in Gorgie in a heartbeat
— Kenny Sayers (@Kenny_Sayers1) January 13, 2020
Go on Kyle son hope this is the one where you kick on
— Harrison Browne (@Harriso80557925) January 13, 2020
Definitely going to help the goalscoring. Nice pick up!
— Jordy ???? (@JordanRenwick93) January 13, 2020
Dont make a balls of this one, time to grow up and realise how lucky you are, you are living a dream for most people.
— Tim. (@timoftheyard) January 13, 2020
Good luck Sunderland. Expect to be underwhelmed.
— Sportingintegritymyarse (@SIMA1872) January 13, 2020
Man looks like his dogs just been put down
— John (@JohnYorstonn) January 13, 2020
Looks like he’s just been told they no longer have pizzas after the match
— Berek C (@FTMBezza) January 13, 2020
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