Today Sunderland announced the signing of German defender Jan Kirchhoff from Bayern Munich for a fee believed to be around just £750,000. The cut-price deal is due to his contract at Bayern only having six months remaining. The 25-year-old passed his medical earlier today and has signed an 18 month deal at the Stadium of Light. He is the first of what Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce is hoping will be several new faces to help the teams battle against relegation.
Six foot five inch Kirchhoff, who is primarily a central defender and can play defensive midfield if required, began his career at FSV Mainz 05 where he was regarded as one of the most talented defenders in the Bundesliga. He is known in Germany not just for his aerial ability but also for his excellent passing ability.
While at Mainz he appeared regularly for the German national side at U18, 19 and 21 level. He was vice captain of the U21 side during their successful qualification to the 2013 UEFA European U21 Championships. However due to injury he did not take part in the finals.
In 2013 he signed a pre contract with Bayern Munich, joining them for the 2013-14. Since joining he has spent time on loan at Schalke, performing well but due to injuries and the form of others Kirchhoff has struggled to force his way into Pep Guardiola’s plans and has made just seven appearances for Munich. With Kirchhoff’s contract up in the summer this deal seems to suit all parties concerned.
Speaking about the move to England Kirchhoff said: “I had several options, there were requests from the Bundesliga, but I didn’t really consider them or to stay at Bayern,” he told German newspaper Kicker. “I’m looking forward to playing in England and the new challenge.” Black Cats manager Sam Allardyce added: “You are not going to get a player from Bayern Munich whose played a lot of games, let’s face it. We’ve got a frustrated player who wants to play football, whose decided that he wants to come and join the fight against relegation. He’s looking forward to playing in the Premier League and has wanted to come and play here.”
Kirchhoff, and all at Sunderland will now be hoping that his injury problems are behind him and he can play his part in helping his new team stay in the Premier League. With several players being linked, Sunderland and Sam Allardyce are wanting to do business sooner rather than later during this transfer window, therefore the club and its fans could be in for an eventful time on the transfer front.
