Sunderland have completed the signing of former Huddersfield Town midfielder Alex Pritchard. The 28-year-old has signed for the Black Cats on a free transfer following his release by the Championship side. Pritchard becomes Lee Johnson’s first signing of the summer as he looks to rebuild his squad ready for next season’s promotion challenge.
According to reports, Pritchard turned down offers from Championship clubs and German side VFL Bochum to sign for Sunderland. The deal was announced via the club’s official website and Twitter account.
Midfielder Alex Pritchard Signs for Sunderland
🥁 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴…
Introducing, @Pritch_93 ✍️
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) July 9, 2021
Star Performer to Disappointing Spell at Huddersfield Town
Midfielder Alex Pritchard signed for the Terriers in January of 2018 for a reported fee of £11 million from Norwich City. He would go on to play 83 times for the club in the Premier League and the Championship but fell out of favour last season when he featured just 19 times.
Prior to this, Pritchard had been a star performer for Norwich and Brentford after leaving Tottenham Hotspur. It was these performances that prompted Huddersfield, then a Premier League club to spend £11 million to capture his services.
Despite helping the Terriers stay in the Premier League, it has been reported that the Huddersfield former owner David Hoyle admitted that he overspent on the player despite securing their place in England’s top flight with Pritchard in the team. Something which the player has commented on plus his time at the club. He said: “I thought I’d done well enough in those first games to return to the side, but I didn’t. Then it went on; you’re not playing, not playing.
“I didn’t have the season I wanted but did I really get the chance to show what I was about? Probably not. Did I cut it? Probably not. And when people say, ‘You’re injury-prone’… I wasn’t. I was fit.
”You all move on but I’ve seen things like someone saying, ‘We overpaid for Pritchard’. OK, that’s not my problem. That was what you did. I came in the January, you ended up staying in the league and you earned whatever you earned (from being a Premier League club again). I bet you didn’t say anything about how much I cost then.
“After you’ve stayed up, did you invest enough? I don’t know. That’s just opinions but because it didn’t work out, why did you have to say you overpaid?”
A New Start for Midfielder Alex Pritchard
New Sunderland signing Alex Pritchard expressed his delight at having signed for the Black Cats and is looking forward to the new season. Following his departure from Huddersfield, he will no doubt be wanting to show what he can do.
He told safc.com: “It’s great to be here and it’s another good opportunity for me on the football road, so I’m ready to get going. There were other offers out there, but it’s crucial for me to be with a Head Coach that knows me as a player, and as a person, and has a playing style that suits me. The club speaks for itself – you see the stadium, the training ground, the fans – and I just think this could be a great fit.”
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