Sunderland have made their first signing of the January transfer window with a swoop for Bayern Munich defender Jan Kirchhoff, the struggling Premier League club announced on Thursday (Jan 7).

Kirchhoff agreed an 18-month contract for a fee reported to be in the region of £750,000 (US$1.09 million).

The 25-year-old centre-back moved to Bayern from Mainz in 2013 and went on to spend two spells on loan with Bundesliga rivals Schalke.

“He has good pedigree – he started playing first team football at 17 or 18 years old at Mainz and that he progressed to a club as big as Bayern Munich shows he has talent,” Allardyce told Sunderland’s website.

“He’s frustrated at not being able to play a bigger part in Bayern’s team in the time he’s been there and he wants to experience the Premier League.”

Allardyce moved for Kirchhoff after missing out on QPR’s Steven Caulker and Lorient’s Lamine Gassama.

Source AFP