Aiden McGeady reveals how his Sunderland move came about, his Preston regret and text message to Simon Grayson

McGeady swapped Everton for the North East back in the summer of 2017 and went on to become a key player at the Stadium of Light for two-and-a-half-years before falling out of favour under Phil Parkinson.

The 34-year-old is currently on loan at Charlton Athletic and faces an uncertain future with another year left on his contract at Sunderland, though it appears increasingly likely he will move on again this summer.

McGeady played under Grayson during a loan spell at Preston North End and when the former Leeds United boss got the Sunderland gig, he made sure of a quick reunion with the winger.

Reflecting on his move to Sunderland, McGeady, said: "With Everton I had one year left on my contract and I think Everton wanted not a massive amount of money but they wanted me gone.

"I think Peter Risdale went to Everton, quite early on in the window, quite early on in the summer, before the end of the season and he was like “look, we want to take him” and things like that.

"I was like “listen, I will 100% sign here”, even if a better offer came in on more money, it didn’t really bother me. I didn’t want to lose what I had at Preston but ultimately, financially, I don’t think Preston could do it.

"So at that point I think the summer kind of carried on, obviously then Simon Grayson went to Sunderland and took the job there and one of the first things he did was text me to say “look, would you fancy it?” and I was like “yeah, of course I’d fancy it” but even at the same time, I still did want to come back to Preston. Even with Sunderland in the background, I still did.

"I think I even said to my agent, a couple of days before I signed for Sunderland “look, phone Peter Risdale and let him know the situation and see if they can still do it”.

"I can’t stress enough how much I enjoyed it and how much I wanted to carry it on but football’s funny."

McGeady, speaking to the Preston North End website, said ultimately there were a couple of reasons why he didn’t stay at Preston, they couldn’t do it financially and the change of manager.

He added: “I remember when I signed for Sunderland I got a lot of fans messaging me on social media, saying “I can’t believe you’ve done this”, “I can’t believe you’ve done that”.

"I was like “honestly, if I could have gone back to Preston, if I could have, I would have” but obviously with the manager leaving as well, he was a big part of it for me there.

"Then the club was a little bit, not in turmoil, but they were thinking that they would have to get a new manager in, didn’t know what players the manager wanted.

"I think that is what forced their hand a little bit to say “look, we can’t do it just now”.

"Ultimately, it wasn’t there for me. Which was disappointing but it’s the way football is and I moved on to Sunderland.

"It was a big opportunity as well because they are a massive club, Sunderland, and obviously to work with Simon Grayson again. I’ve got a lot to thank him for, obviously at Preston and at Sunderland."