Born on this day is Dutch left back and former Sunderland player Patrick Van Aanholt. The attack-minded fullback played for the lads from 2014 to 2017, making over 80 appearances.
Van Aanholt was an unknown quantity when he signed, despite having spent five years at Chelsea. He had constantly been loaned out, including a brief spell at Newcastle United. He’d never stood out during any of his five loan stints, which is why eyebrows were raised when he arrived on Wearside permanently in 2014.
The previous season, Marcos Alonso had been deployed at left back. Because the Spaniard was on loan, it freed up a space for PVA to slot straight in on the left-hand side. He was clearly a similar mould to Alonso, an attacking wingback but his weakness was defending. He got an assist on his debut, in a 2-2 dra