Sunderland Snap Up Bardsley

Sunderland boss Roy Keane has swooped on his former club again by taking United right-back Phil Bardsley to Wearside on a permanent deal.

The 22-year-old's transfer takes the number of ex-Reds on the permanent playing staff at the Stadium of Light to six.

Paul McShane, Danny Higginbotham, Kieran Richardson, Dwight Yorke and Andrew Cole have all plied their trade at Old Trafford at some point in their careers, while promising young defender Jonny Evans is currently on loan with the Black Cats.

A tough-tackling defender, Bardsley made his debut for the Reds back in December 2003 against West Bromwich Albion in the Carling Cup.

He went on to make 18 appearances in total for the Reds, although his time at United was interspersed with a number of loan spells away from the club.

First there was a stint at Royal Antwerp in 2004, which was followed by his most involved season for United in 2005/06, where he stood in for the injured Gary Neville by making 15 appearances between August and February.

However, the Salford-born defender was unable to hold down any further regular football at OT, and time with Burnley, Rangers, Aston Villa and, until now, Sheffield United followed.

Wes Brown's excellent cover for long-term injury-victim Neville and Danny Simpson's emergence through the ranks meant Bardsley slipped down the pecking order.

He becomes the third player to leave United in the January transfer window, following the departures of Ryan Shawcross and Adam Eckersley to Stoke City and Port Vale respectively.