Steve Bruce has been the busiest Premier League manager in the transfer market thus far. With deals for Coventry keeper Keiren Westwood, defenders Wes Brown and John O’Shea, strikers Connor Wickham and Ji Dong-Won and midfielders Seb Larsson and David Vaughan in the bag, it would be easy to overlook the acquisition of Craig Gardner at the end of last month.

While Wickham’s arrival and the deals for O’Shea and Brown to the Stadium of Light are higher profile signings, the capture of Gardner could emerge as the real masterstroke. The former Villa man stood out amongst a very ordinary Birmingham midfield last season and emerged as their leading scorer with 10 goals in 37 appearances across all competitions.

Fantasy Managers will have noted Gardner’s arrival at Sunderland with a degree of interest. Often a player considered when Birmingham’s fixture list served a double gameweek or a favourable run, Gardner’s return to the Premier League following Birmingham’s relegation is a welcome sight that should boost our options in the low-to-mid price bracket.

The Statistics

Gardner’s five-year career at Villa Park was a frustrating affair, disjointed by injury and an inability to pin down a regular starting role. At total of 59 appearances with a return of 5 goals only really hinted at the player’s potential and it was with some reluctance that Villa agreed a £3.5 million deal with Birmingham in January 2010.

His impact at St Andrews has been significant. Gardner was renowned for his long-range shooting whilst at Villa but rarely earned the opportunity to display his prowess. At Birmingham Gardner was eventually unshackled and given the freedom to join the attack to bring his fearsome shooting skills to bear.

Thirteen appearances in his first season at the club laid the foundations for a 2010/11 campaign which saw Gardner fetch an impressive 8 Premier League goals. Those strikes were scattered throughout the season as injury, suspension and rotation restricted Gardner to 25 starts. By the last quarter however, it was clear that Gardner’s ability to find the net would prove crucial to Birmingham’s chances of retaining their top-flight status. Unfortunately, even a typically spectacular strike on the final day at White Hart Lane proved futile as Alex McLeish’s side suffered the drop.

The Opta performance statistics available to our members emphasise Gardner’s importance to the Birmingham cause. An average of 1.8 efforts on goal per match saw him stand out as their major threat on goal. To put that into perspective, Gardner’s statistics betters the likes of Samir Nasri, Kevin Nolan and Dirk Kuyt who all had very successful campaigns and proved popular Fantasy targets.

Crucially, when you examine the Sunderland midfield, only Stephene Sessegnon can match that kind of goal threat – and he spent half of his appearances playing a striker role under Bruce.

The Prospects

With Sunderland lacking potency from midfield areas, the manager has clearly moved for Gardner in order to provide that ingredient for next season. Bruce will surely look to embrace Gardner’s ability to spring into the box and test the opposing keeper from range and those attributes may well see the new recruit cement a starting role.

Typically however, Gardner appears to face stiff competition. Larsson will surely have been earmarked for a position on the right-flank with Sessegnon’s form at the end of last season set to put him in the box seat for a left-wing role. Gardner will be considered in the middle of the park then but, if Bruce opts for a 4-4-2, this will mean that the likes of Kieran Richardson and fellow new signing David Vaughan will also be leading contenders in those positions along with Lee Cattermole.

Once again then Gardner will have to take his opportunities as they arise. He has the weapons to stake a claim for regular starts and Fantasy managers will certainly be hoping that he can establish himself and promise the kind of returns we saw last season with Birmingham. If we can be assured of consistent starts, there’s little doubt that Gardner offers the potential for goals at an easily affordable price that should see him attract investment when fixtures fall the Black Cats’ way.