Martyn Waghorn started his career at Sunderland before joining Championship outfit Derby County for £8million.
Martyn Waghorn has admitted that he wanted to return to Sunderland before he sealed his big-money move to Derby County, while speaking to Roker Report.
The South Shields-born forward started his career on Wearside, joining Sunderland’s academy at just eight years of age before going on to make six Premier League appearances for the Black Cats.
Waghorn was sold to Leicester City in 2010 and then embarked upon a nomadic career that eventually ended up with him joining Derby in August for a fee of £8 million, according to the Daily Star, after a stellar season at Ipswich.
The former Rangers forward is yet to live up to those lofty expectations at Pride Park, however, netting just eight times in 34 games under Frank Lampard.
Given the choice, it seems that Waghorn would not have chosen to join Derby in the first place with an emotional return to Sunderland on the cards during Simon Grayson’s spell at the Stadium of Light.
“There was a lot of talk between myself, my agent and Sunderland but Sunderland needed to move players out to make the move happen and they couldn’t get them out at that time fast enough for the move to happen,” Waghorn admitted.
“I’ll admit I tried to push the move through, but Sunderland had a lot of players on their hands at that time on big wages and the move had to be right for them.
“They couldn’t shift them following relegation for the move to happen and the financials meant it could happen. Did I want it to happen? Absolutely.”
Waghorn adds, however, that he has not given up hope: “Hopefully I can come back in the future though, who knows.”
Waghorn could have been an outstanding servant for a Sunderland side currently fighting for promotion back to the Championship, having been relegated to League One at the end of the 2017/18 campaign.
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