Former Sunderland flop Will Grigg has joined Chesterfield - claiming it had to be 'something special' to convince him to drop into non-league. Grigg joined the Spireites from MK Dons for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal after scoring just seven goals in 48 appearances in his second spell for MK as the club was relegated to League Two last season.
The move to National League Chesterfield reunites the 31-year-old with his old Wigan Athletic boss Paul Cook, under whom he enjoyed the best spell of his career. "[Paul Cook] had a massive role [in bringing me into the club]," Grigg told Chesterfield's official website.
"For me to drop down to the National League, it had to be something special. As soon as I found out about the interest, it was something I wanted to pursue.
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"To finally get it over the line is an amazing feeling."
The ex-Northern Ireland international striker cost Sunderland £3m - a record fee paid out by a club in the third tier - when he joined from Wigan in January 2019 with a record as one of the most prolific League One marksmen, but went on to endure a nightmare three-and-a-half year spell on Wearside where he ended up a forlorn figure, derided by fans. His signing on deadline day was an expensive mistake by the club's then-owner Stewart Donald, which the Netflix documentary Sunderland 'Til I Die covered in excruciating detail.
Grigg scored four league goals in 18 outings in the second half of the 2018-19 season, and added only one more in 20 appearances the following season. He was little more than a bit-part player in the first half of 2020-21, and was eventually farmed out on loan to MK Dons for the second half of that campaign.
Grigg then played out the final year of his Sunderland contract on loan at Rotherham United, contributing two goals as the Millers were promoted from League One along with the Black Cats, although he spent the final months of the campaign on the sidelines with a hamstring injury. His record at Sunderland was eight goals in 62 games in all competitions, and he was released last summer after which he joined MK Dons as a free agent.
