Former Sunderland winger Aiden McGeady has urged James McCarthy to sign for the Black Cats this summer. The former Everton midfielder is said to be mulling over his options having struggled to make an impact at Celtic.
Alex Neil's side have enjoyed a positive start to their return to the Championship, with debutant Ellis Simms netting twice in victory at Bristol City on Saturday. However, the Black Cats are believed to still be in the market for reinforcements and have been loosely linked with a move for McCarthy.
The Republic of Ireland international has made just six starts at Celtic since signing from Crystal Palace last summer. The 31-year-old is unlikely to be afforded more opportunities in the new season, and is said to be interesting clubs in England.
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McGeady has re-joined former Sunderland boss Lee Johnson after agreeing a one-year deal with Hibernian. The winger played alongside McCarthy during his time at Everton, and believes his former team-mate should consider a move to the Stadium of Light.
McGeady told Open Goal: "I met him the other day and I was interested to hear what he was thinking about Celtic and whether he still had the ambition to play every single game, or whether he was cool to sit at Celtic and not play. But he was like 'no, I want to play'. We spoke for two minutes but he did actually say that [that he wants to play].
"I think going into that Sunderland team he'd play every game. Sunderland just now have just such a young squad. They are going that Brentford model way of young players with asset value and don't sign over the age of 24.
"But I think he would be good. For him, he's got to be playing games. He's probably gone a few years without having a sustained run of games in the team and Sunderland are still the biggest club in the Championship. If I was him, I'd be like 'yeah, I've got to go and play games'."
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