Sunderland: Tony Mowbray reveals what he was told by Fulham before Birmingham City hijacked deal | OneFootball

Highlights

footballleagueworld video of the day

Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray says he was told by Fulham that they were happy for Jay Stansfield to join the Black Cats on loan in the summer transfer window.

Ultimately though, that deal never happened, with Stansfield instead joining fellow Championship side Birmingham City on a season-long loan.

As a result, the 20-year-old could now face Mowbray's men when the two sides meet at The Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon.

How have things gone for Stansfield this season?

Following an impressive loan spell in League One with Exeter City last season, Stansfield was linked with a number of Championship clubs in the summer transfer window.

One of those was Sunderland, who were reported to have discussed the possibility of signing the 20-year-old to boost their attacking options.

Ultimately though, that deal never materialised, with Stansfield instead joining Birmingham on a season-long loan, where has so far impressed this season.

The striker has so far scored five goals in 12 Championship games for the Blues, making him their top scorer this season.

Now though, it seems things could have worked out rather differently, given how close Mowbray believes Stansfield actually was to moving to the Black Cats.

What has Mowbray said about Sunderland's summer pursuit of Stansfield?

With Sunderland set come up against Birmingham and Stansfield on Saturday afternoon, Mowbray was perhaps not surprisingly asked about his side's interest in the striker over the summer.

It seems as though Mowbray at least, was for a time confident that the 20-year-old would be wearing a Sunderland shirt during the current campaign.

Responding to a question about whether he thought Sunderland would sign Stansfield for this season, the Black Cats boss told The Northern Echo: "Yeah, I think so. I never got to the point of expecting him to arrive the next day but it's something we chased pretty hard and for whatever reason...

"I did have a conversation with him, I spoke to his manager at Fulham and they were pretty sound and happy that he was coming here. For whatever reason, that didn't happen."

Where are Sunderland and Birmingham in the Championship?

Following their run to the play-offs last season, Sunderland have made a promising start in their attempts to claim another top six spot this season.

The Black Cats current sit eighth in the Championship table, two points adrift of the play-off places going into this round of fixtures.

By contrast, a run of just one point from four games since the appointment of Wayne Rooney as manager, has seen Birmingham slip down the standings.

The Blues have dropped out of the top six and down to 15th in the standings, some six points behind those play-off places ahead of this round of fixtures.

Would Stansfield have been a good signing for Sunderland?

It does seem as though Stansfield would have been a good addition for the Black Cats had they been able to get that deal done.

Stansfield could obviously have filled one of those voids, and given how he has started with Birmingham, he could have made a positive impact at The Stadium of Light as well.

Indeed, considering the fact that of Sunderland's current squad, only winger Jack Clarke (nine) has scored more league goals than Stansfield this season, they may feel as though they have missed out to some extent here.