'Extremely talented' - Jurgen Klopp's encouraging 2020 verdict on new Sunderland signing Aaron Connolly

Sunderland new boy Aaron Connolly may have lost his way recently, but fans should remember the striker arrives at the Stadium of Light with one hugely impressive long-term fan... former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, writes Will Jeffries.

While not exactly a flop last season at Hull City, scoring eight goals in 28 games on Humberside, Connolly struggled before that at Middlesbrough and is yet to deliver on the promise which saw him break into the Premier League with Brighton as a teenager.

But anyone doubting that the now 24-year-old – signed by Kristjaan Speakman as a free agent - could bring something to the Sunderland squad should perhaps look back to Klopp’s verdict on him from four years ago. The German coach waxed lyrical about Connolly – now capped nine times by the Republic of Ireland - in a famous post-match interview.

Before his post-match chat with BT Sport following a 1-1 draw for Liverpool in a Saturday lunchtime kick-off at Brighton in November 2020 descended into a rant about the Reds being given early kick-off times, Klopp paid warm tribute to Connolly’s performance that day.

“You have to drop at the right moments because he (Connolly) is running through the gaps, so it is difficult to defend against him. We saw last season at Anfield that he is an extremely talented player, capable of hurting you between the lines.

“Your defenders have to drop in at the right moments against him because he’s running through the gaps, so he’s a difficult player to play against.”

Connolly was plagued by injuries in the second half of that 2020-21 season, and was then frozen out of the Brighton side before unproductive loan moves to Italian Serie B club Venezia and Middlesbrough. But Sunderland will hope the Irishman can showcase the rich talent which saw him score twice on his Brighton U21 debut as a 16-year-old against a West Ham U21 side featuring Declan Rice at centre-back.