League One Sunderland have been tipped to bring Grant Leadbitter back to the Stadium of Light from Championship pacesetters Boro.
If Sunderland still want to bring Grant Leadbitter back to the Stadium of Light in January, they will have taken note of his comments to the Northern Echo on Thursday.
The 32-year-old midfielder started his career with the Black Cats before leaving for Ipswich Town in 2009 but has been tipped to return to Wearside over the last few months.
Teesside Live reported in August that Sunderland were hopeful of bringing Leadbitter back to where it all began, and they have more funds to play with now that Papy Djilobodji and Didier Ndong are no longer a drain on the club’s resources.
In a potential boost to Sunderland’s hopes, Leadbitter has told the Northern Echo that he is not exactly thrilled with life out of the Middlesbrough team. Although he does admit that he understands why Tony Pulis doesn’t want to change his starting XI due to the good form of the midfielders ahead of him.
“I do my stuff every day on the football pitch, and that professionalism will never change, in or out of the team,” Leadbitter told the Northern Echo.
“The players that are playing in the team (for Championship matches) at the minute are doing well. So the players that are out of the team just have to keep fighting.”
Leadbitter has not started since the opening day and is without a Championship appearance since August. So it will be interesting to see how he reacts if Sunderland decide to renew their interest in a few months.
Jack Ross’s League One giants are very reliant on a crop of talented, homegrown youngsters, but Leadbitter would perhaps provide that bit of experience that could get them across the line.
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