Signed for £1.5m - Sunderland made serious money after Chelsea deal: View | OneFootball

The nomadic footballer is more or less commonplace in the modern game, but for a player to feature for six separate clubs in 18 months takes that moniker to the extreme.

That was the life of Patrick van Aanholt during his early career, with the Chelsea youth product one of plenty of young loanees sent away from Stamford Bridge to continue their development.

Seven games here, three games there; the Dutchman’s career history looks more like a bank statement with the amount of loans scattered across it, so it must have been a welcome relief to finally get a permanent move to Sunderland in the summer of 2014.

Once he got chance to unpack his suitcase the wicked wing-back was a revelation at the Stadium of Light, and would go on to make the left spot in the defensive line his own, as well as featuring further up the field from time to time.

Patrick van Aanholt early career: Chelsea, Coventry City, Newcastle United

Like so many young Chelsea stars at the time, Van Aanholt had to endure the seemingly never-ending cycle of loan spells as a youth product, with Coventry City being his first port of call as a fresh-faced 18-year-old.

The Sky Blues threw the youngster straight into the mix as he featured 20 times for the club in the Championship, before a brief spell with Newcastle United as the Magpies sought for promotion back to the Premier League.

Back at Stamford Bridge, the teenager had to make do with featuring in cup competitions and European fixtures, with the mainstay of the squad saved for the rigour of the Premier League campaign, before more spells away at Leicester City and Wigan Athletic.

It was the same old story each time; return to West London, play a handful of games, then back out on the road. At that age all a player wants to do is play games, so you couldn’t blame him if he was becoming frustrated with his lack of opportunities with the Blues.

Even a two-and-a-half-year spell back in his homeland with Vitesse Arnhem was ever only a temporary affair, with Chelsea holding all the cards regarding his future - until Sunderland forced their arm with a reported £1.5 million offer to take him off their hands.

By that point the Blues probably forgot the Dutchman was still employed at the club, so were happy to offload him to Wearside, and that move to the Stadium of Light finally gave Van Aanholt a place he could call home for good.

The full-back repaid that faith immediately with a number of stellar performances bombing up and down the flanks, before registering his first goal for the club in a 1-0 FA Cup win over Leeds United with a typically rifled finish from the left side of the penalty area.

The speed, the power, the ability to beat a man - Van Aanholt had it all and added an extra dimension to the Mackems’ attacking output, and gave him some wiggle room for when the defensive side of his game went amiss at times.

In classic Sunderland fashion Premier League survival was bitterly fought for until the end, and managers came and went, with Gus Poyet, Dick Advocaat and Sam Allardyce all taking the reins in the defender’s first 15 months at the club, with finishes of 16th and 17th keeping them clinging on to top flight status.

Sunderland made a big profit on Patrick van Aanholt when he departed

As the mood continued to drop on Wearside, van Aanholt continued to be one of the shining beacons of hope with regular goal contributions, something that Allardyce was all too aware of as he came back to raid his former club.

With the big man moving to Selhurst Park after his ill-fated stint as England manager, he made the Dutchman his priority in the 2017 January transfer window, with a reported fee rising to £12 million agreed for the defender.

Not a bad return of investment for the Black Cats you might say, but with Van Aanholt jumping ship the Mackems won just two more Premier League games all season en route to finishing rock-bottom of the division, before doing the same in the second tier the season after.

So, they may have had money in the bank, but it was the defender who had the last laugh, with over 100 matches in the Premier League for the Eagles to come over the next four seasons, as he continued to excel as one of the most exciting full-backs in the top flight.

A spell in Turkey with Galatasaray followed his departure from England in 2021, before returning back to the Netherlands to play for PSV Eindhoven, where he continues to terrorise defenders with his wand of a left peg.

His boundless energy and eye for an absolute rocket that would have the goal rocking as it hit the back of the net made him a fans favourite wherever he went, but it was Sunderland who first took under their wing and finally gave him a home of his own to allow him to shine.