WILL BUCKLEY SET TO JOIN ON LOAN

WILL BUCKLEY SET TO JOIN ON LOAN

Sunderland winger training at Thorp Arch ahead of loan switch...

Sunderland winger Will Buckley is set to begin training with United ahead of signing on an emergency loan deal next week.

Opting to start the loan after Sunday’s trip to Middlesbrough enables the club to have Buckley available for the maximum amount of games.

It means he will remain a Leeds player until January 2 – the day of our home game with MK Dons.

Otherwise, he would have been due to return to Sunderland over the Christmas period as the maximum length of an emergency loan is 93 days.

The 25-year-old, who moved to the Stadium of Light from Brighton last summer, made 24 appearances in all competitions during his debut season with the Black Cats.

However, Buckley is yet to feature in 2015/16 and was heavily linked with a switch to Elland Road over the summer, despite being named in Dick Advocaat’s 24-man Premier League squad.

The Oldham-born winger began his career with Rochdale having progressed through their youth system, and he sealed a move to Watford in 2010 after emerging as one of the Football League’s brightest young talents.

A year-and-a-half later he was snapped up by Brighton for a then club record fee of £1million following their promotion to the Championship.

Buckley made 109 appearances during his three-year spell with the Seagulls, scoring 19 goals along the way as he helped Gus Poyet’s side mount a push for the top-flight.

August 2014 saw him follow Poyet into the Premier League by joining Sunderland for a reported £2.5m fee. Buckley has another two years remaining on his current deal at the Stadium of Light.

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