Quinn: £35m well spent

Sunderland's chairman Niall Quinn has announced that the £35m spent this summer was money well spent by head coach Roy Keane. Niall Quinn has announced that he expects the 12 signings to add value to the squad over a long period of time.

A British record £9million fee for goalkeeper Craig Gordon, £6million on Southampton striker Kenwyne Jones, £5.5million for Manchester United winger Kieran Richardson and £5million for Cardiff’s Michael Chopra led the way as the Irishman prepared for life in the top flight.

Quinn said, "We back our manager - we believe in him and we are prepared to fund that belief.

"The big mistake that happens in football is where signings are made for headlines and season tickets and then football is in there somewhere.

"At this club, football comes first in everything.

"If Roy Keane fancies a lesser-known player in favour of a ritzy-glitzy player, then that is the player I will go for every time.

"The higher you go, the more difficult things are to achieve. ThatÂ’s because we havenÂ’t been hanging around the top of the Premier League attracting players for the last few years.

"We are playing catch-up again in a way, but we think that the idea of Roy Keane coming up and developing a career in front of 48,000 fans every week is a big thing.

"Players in general get stick for always just going where the money is. But I think sometimes we do them a disservice.

"There are some great players out there who know what the best football clubs are about, and we wanted players coming here who wanted to wear this particular jersey with pride.

"Roy stands for something and people in football know that, especially after last season."