Lee Cattermole signed a new five-year contract at the Stadium of Light in the last week and his manager Dick Advocaat has been heaping praise on the midfielder. Cattermole was entering the final year of his current deal, until Sunderland tied him to the club until 2021 with his new deal.
Sunderland manager Dick Advocaat believes that securing the services of Cattermole for the next six years will be crucial to Sunderland’s future success. Advocaat sees Cattermole as the “controller” of our side. Stating “he is a motivator, a leader and central to the success of our team"
Sunderland Desperate To Keep Cattermole In The North-East.
Before Cattermole signed his new deal at the Stadium of Light, there had been speculation that Stoke City may have been interested in taking Cattermole away from the North East. Stoke came close to signing him in January and were expected to come back in with a fresh bid. Sunderland though made it one of their top priorities to tie the club’s longest serving player to a long-term deal.
Cattermole joined Sunderland in August 2009 for a fee of around £6million from Wigan, the move saw Cattermole returning to the North-East having come through the youth ranks at neighbours Middlesbrough.
Premier League Ever-Present For 10 Years
The 27 year-old has ten years of Premier League experience, having been given his debut as a 17 year-old by Middlesbrough. He spent three years in the first-team at the Riverside before making the move to Wigan. He only spent a season at Wigan before making the move to Sunderland.
Cattermole has 232 Premier League appearances to his name so far, 130 of those for Sunderland. He is just three games shy of 150 appearances in all competitions for Sunderland.
Cattermole excelled under Advocaat towards the end of last season after the Dutchman’s arrival in March, following the sacking of Gus Poyet. Cattermole was a key figure as Sunderland went on a five-game unbeaten run to seal there top flight status.