Championship club conclude free agent transfer deal after strong Sunderland interest

Former Sunderland trialist Silko Thomas has concluded a move to Championship rivals Leicester City.

Thomas played for the Black Cats’ under-21s side in friendlies against Kings Lynn Town and Huddersfield Town earlier in the summer with the winger scoring in both games.

The attacker was released by Chelsea at the end of the season having represented the club at under-18, under-19, under-21 and under-23 levels during his stay at Stamford Bridge and had also been linked with Blackburn Rovers.

Thomas was previously on trial with newly-promoted Premier League side Sheffield United earlier this summer, then moving on to a stint with the Black Cats.

Following that trial, though, Thomas' move to Leicester City on a reported three-year deal has now been officially announced by the player and club.

Academy coach John Hewitson recently stated that Sunderland came to a mutual agreement not to sign players who were on trial at the club this summer.

Thomas, 19, and 18-year-old defender Bobby Bjork, a Blackpool academy graduate, both played for the Black Cats’ under-21s side in a friendly against Huddersfield in August after leaving the aforementioned clubs.

Swedish midfielder Gideon Granstrom, 18, also had trials at Sunderland and Norwich over the summer.

When asked about recent trialists and what happened to them, Hewitson told The Echo: “The club chose not to pursue and also the boys chose to go elsewhere.

“It’s just one of them things, that was something that we looked at, we had different lines of going into that avenue but it just didn’t come off.

“We move on and have a look at other people really and it’s just one of them things.”