Have Sunderland just repeated Lewis Grabban mistake with Jerome Sinclair?

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Sunderland moved to help their striking shortage yesterday with the loan signing of Jerome Sinclair from Watford. The 21-year-old has arrived on a temporary deal until the end of the season. A former Liverpool talent, he has previously had spells with Wigan and Birmingham on loan but will hope to have a bigger impact at the Stadium of Light.

However, as reported by the BBC, Watford do have a January recall clause in the deal.

It begs the question, have Sunderland made a similar mistake to the one they did with Lewis Grabban last term?

Grabban joined Sunderland last summer on loan from Bournemouth. He arrived on loan last summer for the season and immediately looked a hit on Wearside. In 20 games for the Black Cats he scored 12 goals.

However, in January, with Sunderland at the foot of the table, he wanted out. He had a recall clause in his deal which he activated. A brief return to Bournemouth was followed by a loan to Aston Villa. He ended up scoring eight goals in 15 games for the Midlands club as they reached the play-off final.

“As I’ve said from the get-go, why should I go down on my hands and knees to convince anybody to be with us, even though we are at the bottom of the league?

“Yes, it’s hard and it’s tough. But if they don’t want to be with us, that’s how it is.”

– Former Sunderland boss Chris Coleman on Lewis Grabban’s departure

Grabban ended the season as the league’s second top-scorer and Sunderland struggled for goals after his departure. His form earned him a move worth a reported £6 million to Nottingham Forest this summer.

Sunderland will hope Sinclair can have a similar impact to the one Grabban had last season. But the big hope will be he does so, and then sticks around to see the season through.