OTD: GIACCHERINI/ RICHARDSON/ KABOUL SIGN

On this day in 2007, 2013 and 2015, we signed Kieran Richardson, Emanuele Giaccherini and Younes Kaboul in that order.

Signing for the club in 2013, Emanuele Giaccherini went on to make 43 appearances for Sunderland, netting a grand total of five goals. He arrived with great expectations from the fans as he had spent the past two seasons at Italian giants Juventus, in 2012 they had paid around €4 million for his services.

Emanuele struggled with injuries throughout his Sunderland career and failed to find a good run of impressive performances, resulting in the majority of his appearances coming from off the bench. Having said this, it was only a matter of time before Giaccherini netted for the lads - in his second game he bagged a headed goal in a 1-1 draw with Southampton.

He also made an appearance in the 2014 League Cup final, coming on for Lee Cattermole in the 77th minute as the Black Cats fell short to Man City.

Sunderland was the only non-Italian club Giaccherini spent time at during his career, after an unsuccessful loan to Bologna he was sold to Napoli in 2016 for a reported fee of £1,500,000 plus bonuses. He spent two seasons there, later joining Chievo where he spent the rest of his career, retiring in the summer of 2021. He was clearly a talented player (hence his inclusion in the Euro 2012 and 2016 squads with Italy) but never really settled in the North East.

This day also includes another memorable signing for the Lads, in 2007 Kieran Richardson joined from Manchester United for a reported fee of around £5,500,000. Signing a four-year contract, Richardson couldn't have guessed what was waiting for him on Wearside, and it's safe to say he wasn't disappointed.

Only a year after signing, Kieran wrote his name into Mackem folkelore as he scored one of the most memorable free-kicks in SAFC history, securing a 2-1 win over bitter rivals Newcastle United, our first at home against the Mags in 28 years. He then went on to become a first-team regular for the Black Cats as well as a fan favourite. Over a six year period, Richardson made 149 appearances for Sunderland, scoring 15 times. He was regarded as one of the most versatile players at the club, being able to play in midfield as well as filling in at left back. He claims it was the Brazilian fullback Maicon who inspired him to try and adapt to fullback!

After leaving the lads in 2013, he went on to play for Fulham, Aston villa and Cardiff City before retiring in the year of 2017 after a failed trial at Spanish club Granada CF.

The final player on this list is French centre back Younes Kaboul. Kaboul joined Sunderland from Tottenham Hotspur on this day in 2015. Having spent the last eight years playing professional football in England with both Portsmouth and Tottenham Hotspur (He had two separate stints at Spurs, 2007-08, and later 2010-15), it may come as a surprise to you that this player was described as "the most ill-disciplined Premier League player ever" by the Daily Mirror.

This description was accurate for Kaboul's early performances while at Sunderland. He struggled with both injuries and the inability to not get booked for an extended amount of time. However, when Sam Allardyce came in Kaboul was a transformed player - he showed great leadership and was able to talk his fellow defenders through games. His defensive partnership with Lamine Kone helped us pick up points as we fought relegation under Big Sam.

One performance that sticks out to me is his display in the Mackems' 3-0 destruction of rivals Newcastle United in 2015, where Kaboul kept a clean sheet, as well as setting up Fletcher's goal with a brilliant floating chip pass into the box.

Kaboul featured in our memorable 3-0 home victory in May 2016, playing Everton in a vital match that victory in would esnure our top flight survival at the expense of Newcastle and Norwich City. We were successful, leaving Kaboul in tears at full-time. He had clearly fallen in love with the club but personal circumstances meant he requested a transfer back down south at the end of the season. In the end Kaboul joined Watford on the 19th August 2016, for a fee of around £4,000,000.