Aiden McGeady details retirement thoughts after leaving Sunderland for Hibernian

The Republic of Ireland winger joined Sunderland back in 2017 when the club were in the Championship following their high-profile Premier League exit after ten seasons.

Relegation followed in McGeady’s first season but he remained with the club in League One for four seasons (with a brief loan stint with Charlton in between) before promotion was finally achieved at Wembley under Alex Neil.

McGeady, 36, left Sunderland in the summer when his contract expired and joined former Black Cats boss Lee Johnson at Hibernian.

“I’ve not played for so long that I feel I owe the club and the fans something,” said McGeady, who made his first start for Hibs last weekend. The Scottish Premiership side are managed by former Sunderland boss Lee Johnson.

“I feel people might think I’ve just come up here for the last couple of years of my career. That’s not the case at all. I still love playing football and I still feel I have something to offer.

“The injury really set me back a lot, because it was a recurrence of the same one from last season. There’s nothing worse than being injured. The last four or five months have been some of the worst of my career.

“I actually contemplated just packing it in completely. I thought, ‘I’m never going to get over this’. But it’s all worth it when you have days like Sunday, when you are out there enjoying playing football again and showing you can make a difference.”

Asked what caused him to ignore his retirement thoughts, McGeady added: “It was just about getting over the pain in my knee. We took it really cautiously this time.

“At Sunderland, I rushed back and had two or three setbacks so I was more cautious this time. There must have been people thinking, ‘He’s up here for a jolly, or to top up his pension’, whatever they want to say. I absolutely wasn’t. I still love playing football and I want to do well for this club.”