Sam Allardyce made his first foray into the transfer market as Sunderland manager earlier this week by acquiring centre-half Jan Kirchhoff from Bayern Munich. The 25-year-old arrives at the Stadium of Light on an 18-month contract for a fee believed to be in the region of £750,000 as the Black Cats boss attempts to bring some much-needed defensive reinforcements on board.
After confirming the signing to the press, Allardyce talked up Kirchhoff’s experience and versatility before conceding that the new boy will initially be eased into contention at the Stadium of Light:
“Jan has a very good pedigree and even though he is still relatively young he has experience of football at the highest level. He has real versatility as a player, being comfortable in both the centre back and midfield roles. Our job now is to do everything we can to help him settle and adapt quickly to life in English football, so he can have a positive impact on our squad. We will put him in as soon as we can, as soon as he has got to know the lads. He speaks good English which helps and as soon as he gets to understand the players he plays with he’ll be involved. We will try to introduce him off the bench and hopefully very quickly he can force his way into playing on a regular basis.”
Kirchhoff – who played no part in yesterday’s cup loss at Arsenal – also admits he’s playing catch-up with his fitness levels right now after the Bundesliga took a break over the festive period:
“I’m coming out of the winter break in Germany and had two training sessions with Bayern. I may need some time to get fit. But I’ll try to get on the pitch as fast as I can to help the team.”
The History
A product of the FC Mainz youth academy, Kirchhoff rose through the ranks before being handed a first-team debut in his only appearance of the 2008/09 season.
The centre-half was then sidelined for the majority of the following year due to an Achilles problem, which was the first of a number of injuries that have plagued his career. Kirchhoff recovered to play ten and 29 times over the subsequent two seasons respectively, though his pitch time was limited to 18 league outings in 2012/13 due to a thigh problem.
Nonetheless, Kirchhoff’s displays still persuaded Bayern to snap up his services the following summer on a free transfer. Unfortunately, Kirchhoff struggled to make an impact in his new surrounds and he played just seven times in his first year at the Allianz Arena before being farmed out on an 18-month loan to Schalke. Yet again, however, Kirchhoff’s minutes were again limited due to injury and he managed just 16 league appearances over that stint before returning to Bayern.
Since undergoing corrective surgery, Kirchhoff has been available for selection for a number of months now but he’s failed to find a way into Pep Guardiola’s plans.
Despite standing six-foot-five, Kirchhoff is yet to find the net at senior level. On the international stage, he’s notched four times in 29 appearances for Germany U18, 19 and 21s, though has never been picked for the senior side.
The Prospects
Considering his side have conceded more goals than any other team in the top-flight, investing at the back is an obvious priority for Allardyce. Kirchhoff’s injury record clearly makes him a risky acquisition, though providing he can steer clear of the treatment room, the new boy – priced at 4.3 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) – will be expected to nail down a regular role for the Wearsiders.
With the likes of Seb Coates and Younes Kaboul both picking up injuries in recent matches, Big Sam desperately needs some stability alongside skipper John O’Shea. Considering he’s utilised a three-man backline on a handful of occasions, Allardyce certainly needs more options available should he wish to tinker with his tactics.
A record of six matches without a clean sheet makes for grim reading, though, after Allardyce had initially steered the Black Cats to three shut-outs in the first six league matches of his stewardship. Indeed, their 3-1 win over Villa in Gameweek 20 ended a run of five straight defeats that places Sunderland four points adrift of safety.
Anyone brave enough to back the Black Cats defence is likely to be swayed by Patrick van Aanholt instead. Priced at 4.6, the Dutchman sits joint-top for shots (nine) and joint-third for key passes (eight) amongst defenders over the last six Gameweeks, though he has frustratingly failed to translate those underlying numbers into Fantasy returns.
Looking at the schedule, there’s not much reason for optimism on Wearside right now. Whilst a midweek trip to Swansea looks reasonable for Allardyce’s side, they then face Spurs, City, Liverpool, Man United and West Ham in the subsequent six, suggesting points returns at either end of the pitch could be hard to come by.
As we’ve seen in previous seasons, though, Sunderland do have the battle to beat the drop and given that Allardyce has never been relegated from the Premier League, it’d be folly to write them off. Whilst a fully-fit Kirchhoff could go some way to helping the Wearsiders achieve their top-flight ambitions, that injury record will ensure that few Fantasy managers will be convinced of his potential until he can string together a run of starts under Big Sam at the very least.
