Corry Evans becomes Sunderland’s second signing of the summer

Sunderland have confirmed the signing of former Blackburn Rovers midfielder Corry Evans, after the midfielder’s contract in Lancashire came to an end.

The 30-year-old, who turns 31 later this month, becomes the second new signing on Wearside this summer after the arrival of Alex Pritchard last Friday.

The midfielder started his career at Manchester United but failed to break into the first team. He has spells on loan at Carlisle United and Hull City, and ended up joining Hull City on a permanent basis.

After a two year spell on Humberside, Evans joined Blackburn back in 2013 and had been at Ewood Park since, before his departure this year.

Despite being 30, Evans has made fewer appearances than you might expect, with 220 for Blackburn, 97 for Hull and just one for Carlisle.

He has spent the vast majority of his career playing in the Championship however, and was promoted from League One with Rovers back in 2017/18. He also boasts 66 caps for Northern Ireland, which includes three of their four games at Euro 2016.

Evans made just 18 appearances in the Championship last season after picking up a hamstring injury in November and not returning to the pitch before February.

The season before also saw him out injured for large spells, which suggests the signing of Evans is a risk. He is undoubtedly a good player, and perhaps wouldn’t be playing in League One next season had it not been for his injuries, but if he gets injured again this season it could be an expensive signing with little output.

For many clubs in League One Evans would probably be too big a risk, but Sunderland still have finances many in the division could only dream of, despite seeing Charlie Wyke leave to join Wigan Athletic on a bigger contract.

It’s not yet clear how Lee Johnson will look to line up his side next season, with more new signings expected over the coming weeks, but the additions of Pritchard and now Evans show they mean business.

Fans may be sceptical, given previous signings with experience in the level above like Josh Scowen have not quite lived up to expectations, but there should be real reason for optimism if future signings are of a similar calibre.

Many expect League One to be the toughest it’s been for a long time next season, if not the toughest it’s ever been, with so many clubs with big budgets in the division. Sunderland are one of the clubs many will expect to be challenging, as they have done the previous three seasons, but challenging this season will not be enough for those on Wearside.

After having one season cut short, and the other two finishing in play-off defeats, Sunderland will see promotion as the only option. And automatic promotion at that after their previous play-off campaigns.

Whether Lee Johnson will be able to build a squad capable of achieving that remains to be seen, but the early signs look good, on paper at least.

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