Adam Johnson: “We were all surprised that he was released at the time – myself, Lee Cattermole who was there at the time, I think even Academy director Dave Parnaby was – but we had a lot of strikers come in at the time and he was the one who they decided to let go.
“I always thought he would do well though and he’s shown that straight away from doing well at all the clubs he’s played for before getting the move to Sunderland.”