Julio Arca is hoping he can use his Sunderland connections to help his fledgling management career get off to a bang.
The Argentinian star landed his first managerial job after taking over from Kevin Phillips as boss of South Shields.
Arca will be joined in the dugout by his former Sunderland midfield team-mate Tommy Miller and is looking to add to his backroom staff over the next few weeks. But he is also hoping that he can tap into some of his old connections at the Stadium of Light to bring some of the best young talent to Shields next season.