Does Championship record justify Sunderland’s reported interest in Bournemouth’s Lewis Grabban?

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Sunderland need a goal-scorer but Lewis Grabban has just endured a disastrous 18-month stint with AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League.

They say you should never go back. And while Jose Mourinho endured a mixed second spell with Chelsea, Robbie Fowler struggled to live up to nostalgic expectations when he returned to Liverpool in 2006, perhaps the phrase is best applied to Lewis Grabban.

Outstanding in his two-year spell after signing from Rotherham United for just £300,000, as reported by the BBC, Grabban helped Bournemouth win promotion to the Championship in 2013 before plundering a remarkable 22 goals in the second tier.

Two years after leaving for Norwich City, he made an emotional return to the South Coast, this time for a rather heftier fee of £8 million in January 2016 (BBC).

Grabban featured only three times for Bournemouth last season

However, it is fair to say his second spell has not quite lived up to expectations, failing to score in 18 league appearances and spending the latter half of 2016/17 on loan at Reading.

Whether a disastrous 18-month spell should put Sunderland off handing him an escape route is open for debate. The Mirror claims that Bournemouth will let their profligate prodigal son leave on loan, with Sunderland and Hull City are the early front-runners for his signature.

Should Sunderland Grabb Lewis?

Clearly, The Black Cats are crying out for a goal-scorer with only James Vaughan, a striker with a dreadful injury record who represented Bury in League One last season, arriving to replace the talismanic Jermain Defoe so far.

If he signs, Grabban would arrive at the Stadium of Light in arguably the worst form of his career. Considering that Sunderland have made no shortage of disastrous signings in recent seasons, this may set alarm bells ringing.

However, the 29-year-old continues to dine on his impressive lower-league record, having shone with Bournemouth in the Championship before scoring 12 goals to help Norwich City win promotion in 2015.

If Grabban can replicate this form at the Stadium of Light, he could be one of the signings of the summer. The question, however, is whether Simon Grayson could get the best out of a forward who has lost his way.