Sunderland AFC faithful may be paying extra attention to Bradford City now: View | OneFootball

Former Sunderland captain Corry Evans recently completed a deal to join Bradford City

After three seasons at the Stadium of Light, Corry Evans was released by Sunderland in the summer of 2024, and it may be a surprise to some of the club's supporters to see him join a League Two club.

Evans had missed the vast majority of the 2023/24 season thanks to an injury he suffered in January 2023, and it was clear that his age, coupled with his lack of recent playing time, meant he was always going to struggle to earn a new deal at Sunderland, and he departed in the summer.

Many of the Black Cats faithful would have been sad to see him depart, and after a number of months without a club, he recently completed a deal to join League Two Bradford City with a contract until January.

It looks a good signing for Bradford, with the 34-year-old vastly experienced both in the EFL and on the international stage, and it was less than two years ago that he was captaining Sunderland in the Championship.

Sunderland may be paying extra attention to Bradford City following Corry Evans' move

Evans may have only spent three seasons at the Stadium of Light, and he was injured for about half of that, but he's still very well thought of at Sunderland.

The Northern Irish midfielder was Sunderland's club captain, and he played an influential role in helping them finally win promotion back to the Championship, after a difficult few years when they were stuck in League One.

He captained them at Wembley as they beat Wycombe Wanderers in the 2022 League One play-off final, helping to put his name in the club's history books as the man that led them back to the Championship.

He was also a key player for them in the Championship prior to injury in January 2023, and it's clear that he's well thought of at the club by being given the chance to say farewell at the end of the 2023/24 season after recovering from injury to feature against Millwall, Watford and Sheffield Wednesday in the latter weeks of the campaign.

He did a good job in what was a difficult period for Sunderland, and you can expect some of the Black Cats' faithful to keep a close eye on how he fares in League Two with Bradford City.

It might be a bit of a surprise to see him drop to League Two, and you'd have thought that he'd be capable of playing at League One level at the minimum, so it looks like a coup for the Bantams.

You can guarantee that Sunderland supporters will be wishing their former skipper all the best as he gets his career back underway after a spell without a club, and they'll be hoping that he can regain the form he showed prior to his injury in 2023.

With a wealth of Championship experience under his belt, a League Two side signing Evans is a real statement of intent, and it's a low-risk signing for Graham Alexander's side too.

As he's only got a contract until January, if Evans isn't performing well or is struggling with injuries, they can release him and won't have to pay his wages, while if he impresses, he can have his deal extended.

Evans has captained sides at Championship level and has 72 international caps to his name, so his experience will be invaluable for Bradford as they look to negotiate promotion from League Two after six consecutive seasons in the bottom tier of EFL football.

It's been a mixed bag for the Bantams so far, and they sit just outside the play-offs, but if Evans' move goes as planned, they'll soon start moving up the League Two table.

Evans joining Bradford is a deal that would have made their League Two rivals sit-up and take notice, and the club will be hoping it pays dividends in the coming months.