Sunderland and James Vaughan seem like a decent match, but Will Grigg showed last term that form does not always carry well from League One.
Following their relegation to the Championship, Sunderland face the unenviable task of replacing star forward Jermain Defoe this summer.
The England international scored 15 goals in each of his two full Premier League campaigns on Wearside, but could not save the Black Cats from the drop last term.
And with Defoe moving on to Bournemouth, Sunderland need a new front man to aid their promotion tilt – with Simon Grayson looking to James Vaughan to fill the void, as reported by the Sunderland Echo.
“If we bring James Vaughan to this football club it is because we think he’ll affect the squad in a different way to what we’ve already got,” he said.
But rather than simply offering something different, Vaughan is going to be in lonely company as Sunderland’s only current senior striker – and relying on the 28-year-old is a big risk.
He may have netted 24 goals in League One last season for Bury, but Wigan Athletic’s Will Grigg bettered that tally a year earlier and then struggled badly in the Championship.
Grigg’s return in the second tier was just five goals as Wigan were relegated – and Vaughan, previously a Championship player, failed to hit the net once in his last season in the division.
Just as regular goalscorers in the Championship often fail to replicate their form in the Premier League, the same can be said of the jump from League One.
Sunderland will need much more than Vaughan up front if they are to compete.
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