Paddy McNair has left League One Sunderland for Championship side Middlesbrough, but could Grant Leadbitter now go in the other direction?
After weeks of speculation, Paddy McNair is no longer a Sunderland player.
The former Manchester United defender was arguably the Black Cats standout performer as they finished bottom of the Championship last season, scoring four goals in the last five games of the campaign in an ill-fated one-man mission to keep Sunderland up.
And McNair has been rewarded with an immediate return to the second tier. He has made the short trip from Sunderland to Middlesbrough, joining Tony Pulis’s promotion-chasing side for a fee of £5 million, according to the Mail.
£5 million, however, is a hefty sum for Sunderland and a timely boost for new manager Jack Ross as he looks to shape his new side in his image. And, if he was to ask supporters what he should do with the McNair windfall, he would be left in no doubt what those on the terraces are hoping for.
The 32-year-old is currently at Middlesbrough and, ironically, the arrival of McNair could push him further down the pecking order. And Sunderland fans feel that bringing back Leadbitter would be the perfect way to compensate for McNair’s exit.
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