Aitor Karanka worked wonders at Middlesbrough alongside Grant Leadbitter – but could they repeat the trick at Sunderland?
Sunderland’s hopes of welcoming Grant Leadbitter back to Wearside will no doubt be boosted by the identity of their newly-installed managerial favourite.
Sky Bet has made Aitor Karanka the 7/4 frontrunner to replace Simon Grayson at the Stadium of Light. The Spaniard, after all, is Leadbitter’s former manager at North East rivals Middlesbrough.
The Sunderland Echo reports that The Black Cats want to bring the 31-year-old back the club where he started his professional career. Middlesbrough were understood to have blocked an offer from Sunderland in the summer but, with Leadbitter out of contract at the end of this season, his future appears to be in his own hands.
And the temptation for the former England Under-21 midfielder to return to where it all began will surely be increased by the prospect of working alongside Karanka once again.
“I said always (Leadbitter) is the captain, even when he was injured he was in the changing room,” Karanka, who was sacked by Boro in the spring, told Gazette Live in November last year.
“He travelled to all the games when we played away and he was in the changing room encouraging everybody, supporting everybody and, when he has to, he can give a b******ing to somebody, so he is the captain, he is the leader of this team he is the character of this team.”
In contrast, ‘leaders’ and ‘characters’ have been sadly lacking from Sunderland’s side in the last few years. After finishing bottom of the Premier League last season, 16 points adrift of safety, The Black Cats have now sunk to last place in the Championship with just one win so far in 2017/18.
Hiring a tough manager like Karanka, and reuniting him with a player who knows the club and what it takes to succeed at this level, would be a real step in the right direction however.
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