On this day in 2018, Sunderland signed Charlie Wyke. He would be a largely underwhelming striker on Wearside, until one season where Aiden McGeady made him look like Robert Lewandowski.
The burly striker joined the lads from Bradford City for a three-figure sum. Wyke was one of our most expensive signings in our first transfer window in League One, meaning he arrived with a lot of hope and expectation. However, he was actually signed with an injury which he was unable to shake off for a long time.
Making his debut against Oxford, Wyke scored in a 1-1 draw by getting the slightest touch off a Lynden Gooch shot. However, this wasn’t exactly a sign of things to come in his first season. He suffered a major injury in a 2-1 away loss to Burton Albion, where the opposition goalkeeper put Wyke out of action for another 13 matches. The Middlesbrough-born forward never looked fit after returning from injury, and went on to score just three more goals in his debut season at Sunderland.
The second season was not much better for Wyke, who flattered to deceive yet again. Suffering with another ankle injury during pre-season, the target man was left out of the squad for the first two matches of the campaign. However in his first start of the season, he did manage to grab a goal. This was in a 2-1 win against Rochdale where he scored the winner. Only scoring once in the 2019/20 season before Jack Ross was sacked, the owners decided to bring in a manager who knew how to get the best out of a target man such as Wyke. Phil Parkinson arrived, but Wyke’s output didn’t improve as much as people were hoping. Although the season was ended early, he would still be disappointed with just four league goals under Parkinson, taking his total up to five for the season.
However, our third season in League One is where Wyke began to really shine. He was in formidable form throughout the campaign, having finally had a full pre-season to work on his fitness. With almost no real competition from either Danny Graham or Will Grigg, Wyke was given the freedom to play up front and make his mark as Sunderland’s main striker. He scored his first hat trick for the club in a 3-0 win against Wimbledon, including a smart dink over the onrushing keeper! He went on to improve on his hat trick just a few weeks later, by scoring four goals in one match. Yes, McGeady put them all on a plate for him and the defenders gave him a free header every time, but four goals in one game is still a great feat for any player.
Overall, Wyke scored 30 goals in all competitions and won the attention of suitors across the Championship as well as North of the border. Celtic were the runaway favourites to sign him, followed by his boyhood club Middlesbrough. However, rumours suggested that Wyke wanted a lucrative three-year contract which seemingly put Celtic off the deal. Sunderland were resigned to letting Wyke go, unable or unwilling to meet his extreme demands. Wigan Athletic eventually snapped up the striker, reuniting him with his best mate Max Power. His rumoured wage is £10,000 per week! Fair play to Charlie for cashing in, but it was bemusing as to why Wigan would pay so much for a 28-year-old who has only ever had one good season at this level.
Unfortunately for Charlie, he collapsed in training in November for Wigan, and the club released a statement saying he was in hospital. He had suffered a cardiac arrest, and his season was ended extremely prematurely. He made a welcome return to the pitch in July 2022, in a pre-season friendly and is continuing to make a steady recovery.
