Sunderland were known to splash the cash on some underwhelming duds when they were still playing their football in the Premier League, overpriced flops who struggled to ever really fit into their new Wearside environment.
Major signings such as Jack Rodwell and Didier Ndong stick out as being spectacular misfires from the Black Cats, with the latter of those two statement purchases still going down as Sunderland's most expensive capture to this date.
Fast forward to the present, flashy purchases are very much resigned to this turbulent part of the club's history that inevitably played a part in their demise all the way down to League One – Mike Dodds' side consisting more of spritely gems such as Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham now, as opposed to risking it all on some wild and rash buys.
Another one of those over-the-top transfers is remembered for being one of the biggest wastes of money in Sunderland's recent history, with the striker in question entering for a bumper £9m fee and frustratingly just drawing blanks instead of showing off his potency.
Jozy Altidore's time at Sunderland
It's fair to say a lot more was expected of Jozy Altidore when he rocked up to the Stadium of Light 11 years ago than what the Black Cats unfortunately got, arriving in England from the Netherlands with a reputation for being a deadly finisher in the Eredivisie.
Altidore would net 51 goals from 93 games playing for AZ Alkmaar, including a mightily impressive 31 goals from just 38 matches during his final season at AZ before his Sunderland nightmare began.
Strikes such as this one against FC Heerenveen must have had the Wearside outfit licking their lips at the prospect of what they were going to get when Altidore travelled over to England, only for the move to be a disaster from start to finish.
The American centre-forward would end up finding the net a dire three times for the then Premier League Black Cats from 52 games, with remarkably just one of those strikes actually coming in the top-flight.
Altidore would be cursed in front of goal with Hull City at this level even before joining Sunderland, only mustering up a solitary strike for the Tigers too in the Premier League.
1. GK – Keiren Westwood
2. RB – Ondrej Celustka
3 CB – John O'Shea
4. CB – Valentin Roberge
5. LB – Jack Colback
6. CM – Sebastian Larsson
7. CM – Cabral
8. RM – Emmanuele Giaccherini
9. CAM – Stephane Sessegnon
10 – LM – Adam Johnson
11. ST – Jozy Altidore
If anything, Sunderland should have done their research better involving this forgettable loan stint before splashing the cash wildly.
One miss during his wretched time at the Stadium of Light saw one-time Black Cats boss Gustavo Poyet describe Altidore as feeling "devastated" by his lack of a cutting edge, with the move undoubtedly going down as a terrible flop.
The move is exposed further as a blunder on Sunderland's end when you look at how much the ex-AZ striker would cost if this deal went through in today's inflated market, with Totally Money's Transfer Index heightening Altidore's Sunderland trauma even more by exposing those details.
Totally Money have taken the 100 most expensive transfers of all time across each season since 1992 in Europe's top five leagues. Armed with plenty of historical financial data they have calculated what footballers of yesteryear would be worth in the present day after taking into account the remarkable rate of inflation.
Jozy Altidore's transfer value in 2024
If the same ill-fated move went through in 2024, Altidore would have been even more of a costly error on Sunderland's end with the fee – as per Totally Money – coming in at a bumped up £16.4m.
To contextualise, that would result in the 6 foot 1 striker coming in as Sunderland's second most expensive purchase of all time.
1. Didier Ndong
€20m (£17.1m)
2. Asamoah Gyan
€16m (£13.6m)
3. Steven Fletcher
€15.2m (£12.9m)
4. Adam Johnson
€12.6m (£10.7m)
5. Jack Rodwell
€12.5m (£10.6m)
Sunderland will sleep a little easier about the high-profile purchase of Asamoah Gyan in contrast to Altidore firing blanks, with the Ghanaian sharp-shooter earning hero status by bagging 11 goals from 37 games for the Wearside outfit.
Altidore would eventually rebuild his reputation and get his bruised career back on track when relocating to Toronto FC after leaving England, setting the MLS alight with goal after goal.
Sunderland will be left scratching their heads at what went wrong for Altidore when donning a Black Cats strip considering he looked unfazed by his Black Cats demons with Toronto, having been seen as a coup under Paolo Di Canio before freezing in his new spotlight.
Altidore's time after Sunderland
Altidore would become the goalscoring beast he was in the Netherlands with Toronto, amassing 13 goals from just 25 appearances during his debut MLS season.
In total, Altidore would go on to become a decorated servant for the Canadian club by netting 79 goals from 173 games before walking away in 2021 for a new challenge with New England Revolution.
That move didn't quite go according to plan for the American centre-forward though, with the goal-shy Altidore that ruined his short but ego-crushing time with Sunderland remerging again – only firing in two goals from 30 games.
Now, the well-travelled attacker finds himself without a club at 34 years of age with retirement surely in his immediate plans.
Sunderland will worry that their current crop of centre-forwards are lacking a prolific edge similar to Altidore, with Mason Burstow only managing one goal so far on loan from Chelsea.
Likewise, Nazariy Rusyn has just two goals next to his name which so happens to be the same paltry goal return the American striker managed from two spells in the Premier League.
There is the reassurance that neither of those signings dented the Sunderland bank account like Altidore did however, with the strikers at Dodds' disposal not quite going down as being failures to the same degree as their former misfiring dud just yet.
Sunderland could strike gold by cashing in on gem who's now worth £11m
Sunderland could soon make a hefty profit on this star if he is sold on.
ByKelan SarsonApr 5, 2024