Sunderland were close to agreeing a permanent move for Everton's Nathan Broadhead before he ultimately chose a loan switch to Wigan - with Alex Neil saying the performances of Ellis Simms and Ross Stewart at the weekend played a part in the striker's decision. Broadhead spent last season on loan with the Black Cats and helped the club win promotion to the Championship via the play-offs.
He was one of the club's main attacking transfer targets this summer and Neil says the club 'weren't far away' from bringing him back to Wearside on a full-time basis. But Broadhead's Everton teammate Simms, who joined the Black Cats on loan at the end of July, scored twice on his debut at Bristol City on Saturday, while last season's 26-goal top scorer Stewart also got off the mark, and the implication is that Broadhead felt he would not be guaranteed regular starts at Sunderland.
With the 24-year-old having broken into the Wales squad at the end of last season, albeit he later withdrew through injury, and with the Dragons heading to this winter's World Cup, regular starts will be a must if Broadhead wants to play a part in his country's first World Cup tournament appearance since 1958. "When he was here, Nathan did remarkably well for us, so we are grateful for the time that we had him here," said Neil.
