John O’Shea Signs From Sunderland

John O’Shea has put pen to paper on a one-year deal at Reading, becoming the club’s third signing of this summer transfer window. The centre half joins Andy Yiadom and David Meyler in coming through the door at the Madejski Stadium, arriving on a free transfer from Sunderland - where he is out of contract.

The Irishman - who called time on his 118 match international career on Saturday - will soon do the same for his club career. The 37 year-old is, according to reports, set to be part of Paul Clement’s playing squad for one season before becoming part of his coaching staff in 2019.

Besides loan spells at Bournemouth and Royal Antwerp (nice Reading theme there), O’Shea has spent the majority of his career at either Manchester United or Sunderland. It was a trophy-laden decade at Old Trafford, where he took home the Premier League (x5), FA Cup (x1) and Champions League (x1).

To cap it all off, he once nutmegged Luis Figo.

However, his seven years at Sunderland have been - to put it kindly - less good. After a few chaotic seasons successfully battling against relegation from the Premier League, O’Shea then oversaw two chaotic but unsuccessful battles against relegation - the Black Cats plummeting from the top flight to third tier quicker than Jimmy Kebe can pull his socks up.

On his third summer signing, Paul Clement commented:

“John has played and won at the very highest level – he has won five Premier League titles, been part of a European Cup-winning side and earned 118 caps for his country! He will bring us fantastic levels of experience and proven leadership qualities.

“We looked very carefully at John’s recent playing statistics and he played a total of 40 games for Sunderland last season; he is still incredibly fit and a hugely motivated individual. So we look forward to him being a big contributor out on the pitch next season.”

Stay tuned to TTE for more coverage of this signing in the coming days, and of any other transfers that look like getting over the line.