Happy birthday to former SAFC striker Victor Anichebe, a bit of a cult hero but more likely than not, remembered for that infamous tweet rather than any of his exploits on the pitch!
Anichebe was only at the club for one season, the 2016-17 campaign which saw our relegation to the Championship under David Moyes, and he only featured a handful of times, scoring 3 goals, including an important strike away to AFC Bournemouth. A big and imposing striker, his time in football was hindered by injury, which very much replicated his time at SAFC. His hold up man role was successfully executed under Moyes at Everton before he moved to West Brom in 2013, spending three years in the Midlands.
His goal scoring form on Wearside was short lived, after his winner on the south coast, he netted a brace against Hull at home which secured his nomination for that month's PFA Fans Player of the Month, but these would be the only three times he notched for the Lads in what was a pretty disappointing season.
After leaving Sunderland, he joined Chinese side Beijing Enterprise but wouldn't play again after his spell in the far east. Over the course of his career, he was capped 11 times by his country of birth, Nigeria, although he moved to England when he was just one with his family.
ABERNIT XHEMAJLI
It is also the birthday of current Sunderland defender and Kosovo international, Arbenit Xhemajli, a summer singing of Phil Parkinson who has yet to really feature for Sunderland due to an injury he picked up early in the campaign.
Xhemajli signed for Sunderland on a free transfer this autumn following a trial period in pre-season, making his debut in the 8-1 demolition of Aston Villa's under 23s in the EFL Trophy. A full international at the age of just 20 for Kosovo after impressing at under 21 level and for his club, Swiss side, Neuchâtel Xamax.
