Reports have emerged that Sunderland are looking to sign Barnsley striker, Tom Bradshaw to fill the void left by Lewis Grabban. The Bournemouth striker has cancelled his loan spell with the struggling side and has returned to Dean Court. James Vaughan has also departed on a £375,000 move to Wigan Athletic.
This obviously places Chris Coleman in an uncomfortable position tasked with the job of saving the side from being relegated a second time in a row. Tom Bradshaw started his professional career playing for Aberystwyth Town before making the move to Shrewsbury Town on May 2009. After picking up crucial first team experience, he made the switch to League One side, Walsall and went on to make 86 appearances for the club netting the ball a staggering 40 times along with 6 assists.
Blessed with an athletic 6 feet structure, the 25-year-old is both strong and fast on the turn. He can link up the play well with his teammates along and has poacher like instincts inside the box. The Welshman has been capped at international level both for the U21 side and the senior team. He made his debut in a 1-0 friendly loss to Ukraine on 28 March 2016 and was on Coleman’s list for the 2016 Euro Cup but sadly had to withdraw his name due to a calf injury.
Having proven his goalscoring talents, Bradshaw’s career was on a steep upward trajectory and Barnsley did not waste any time to acquire him for a fee in the region of £650,000. However, the striker has slowed down in recent times and has registered a modest 9 goals for the Tykes this season.
Sunderland have been caught out of pace again this season after being relegated from the Premier League last season and are really strained on the attacking end. Coleman’s appointment has added a bit of structure defensively but goals are hard to come by with just 2 in their last 5 league fixtures. Cardiff City dealt a 4-0 thrashing to the Black Cats on Saturday and the Welsh manager had no one other than a 19-year-old Josh Maja to lead the team from up front.
Bradshaw’s signing will definitely bolster the squad ranks but can only be achieved by belting out a significant cash offer. Barnsley are in the 19th spot of the points table and are fearing a relegation battle themselves even though they are currently three points clear. They finally stopped the win streak of Wolves and held the league leaders to a 0-0 draw.
