Connor Wickham

On 29 June 2011, Wickham signed a four-year deal with Premier League club Sunderland for a fee of £8 million. The fee had the potential to rise to £12 million over the course of the contract. [ 26 ] Despite having recently signed a new contract with Ipswich, Wickham had been widely tipped to move to a Premier League club following a highly successful 2010–11 season. Although Ipswich manager Paul Jewell had said there was no pressure to sell the youngster, Sunderland's eventual offer proved too lucrative. [ 27 ] The fee broke Ipswich's record for transfer fees recouped, and broke the transfer record for a Football League player moving to a Premier League club. Ipswich's chief executive Simon Clegg summed it up: He scored his first goal for Sunderland in a pre-season friendly against Kilmarnock . Wickham made his first competitive appearance for Sunderland when he came on as a substitute in the 1–0 defeat to Newcastle United in the Tyne–Wear derby on 20 August 2011. [ 29 ] He made his first Premier League start for Sunderland on 22 October 2011 where he helped Sunderland secure their second win of the season against Bolton Wanderers . [ 30 ] Wickham scored his first Premier League goal for the Black Cats a week later in the 2–2 draw with Aston Villa . The following week against Manchester United at Old Trafford , Wickham suffered a knee injury and had to be substituted just five minutes into the game. [ 31 ] The arrival of new manager Martin O'Neill saw Wickham fall out of favour as he spent the majority of the remainder of the season on the bench and playing for the reserves. [ 32 ] Wickham came off the bench at Bolton Wanderers in the third round of the FA Cup to score his first goal of the season as Sunderland came from 2–0 down to earn a replay. [ 33 ] On 8 February 2013, Wickham joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan, initially on a one-month deal. [ 34 ] He made his debut on 9 February, in a 2–2 draw against Derby County. [ 35 ] He scored his first goal for the club — Wikipedia