Sunderland secure the service of recently departed Leeds United figure | OneFootball

Sunderland have confirmed the appointment of Alessandro Barcherini as the club’s new Head of Goalkeeping following his exit from Leeds United.

A club statement from Sunderland has confirmed the arrival of Barcherini, with the 36-year-old appointed as the club’s Head of Goalkeeping with the duty of overseeing every goalkeeper within the club and their development.

Barcherini has been at Leeds over the course of the last three seasons, serving across two roles: First-Team Assistant Goalkeeping Coach and Head of Academy Goalkeeping.

During that time, the 36-year-old was part of the backroom staff as Leeds won promotion back to the Premier League under Marcelo Bielsa. The Italian continued to serve the club following Bielsa’s exit, working with Jesse Marsch as the Whites survived on the final day of the season last year, securing a third year of top-flight football.

Barcherini confirmed his Elland Road exit earlier in the week, taking to Twitter to bid goodbye to the Yorkshire club:

Sunderland are, of course, now back in the Championship after Alex Neil guided them successfully through the League One play-offs last term.

The Black Cats began their 2022/23 campaign on the weekend gone by, drawing 1-1 with Coventry City at the Stadium of Light.

The Verdict

This looks a fairly good appointment for Sunderland given the experience the 36-year-old has picked up at Leeds.

During his time at Elland Road, Barcherini has worked with two very good coaches in Bielsa and Marsch, as well as alongside Marcos Abad, the club’s goalkeeping coach. Leeds have a very good pool of young goalkeepers, including Illan Meslier, who continues to impress.

Barcherini is taking a different path now, but will hope to have similar success with Sunderland.

Quiz: Did these 15 former Sunderland players leave for a higher or lower fee than they arrived for?

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Kenwyne Jones

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