On this day in 2007, Sunderland signed Dickson Etuhu upon their promotion to the Premier League under Roy Keane.
As a young lad Etuhu grew up in Northern Nigeria, but moved to London aged seven as his family sought treatment for his sister, who was diagnosed with cancer.
Sadly, his sister passed away. But his mother insisted their family stayed in England, which is where Etuhu was introduced to football. Dickson came though Manchester City’s academy, before signing professionally in 2000. He couldn’t make much of an impact though, playing just 12 times for the senior side.
He caught the eye of Preston manager and all-round football genius David Moyes at Preston, who paid £300,000 for the Nigerian’s services. He made his debut for the club in a 1-0 win over Bradford, and scored his first goal just a week later as North End beat Sheffield Wednesday 4-2.