The 6 signings Sunderland made ahead of their ill-fated 2017/18 campaign - Where are they now? | OneFootball

The 2017/18 season is a memorable one for Sunderland for all the wrong reasons.

The Wearsiders had been relegated from the Premier League the season before and the plan was to bounce back up at the first attempt, but that is not how things panned out.

Sunderland suffered the dreaded double drop, taking them down to League One, a division where they would spend four seasons before returning to the Championship.

Looking back, the North East club's transfer business in the summer of 2017 was part of the problem. Here, Football League World examines the six permanent signings made ahead of that ill-fated campaign and where they are now...

Aidan McGeady

The Irish international joined the club from Everton in July 2017. Aidan McGeady would finish the season as the second-top goalscorer, having scored seven times in 37 games.

The winger was surely the best of the signings they made that summer - contributing 36 goals and 35 assists in 150 appearances before leaving the club to return to Scotland to play for Hibernian in 2022.

Last year, he revealed that trying to rush back after injuries at Sunderland nearly cost him his career but McGeady, now 37, is still playing north of the border for Ayr United while also serving as the club's technical director.

James Vaughan

The striker joined Sunderland from Bury in the summer of 2017. He spent one season at the club before moving to Wigan Athletic and only managed two goals in his 27 appearances.

Vaughan retired from football in the summer of 2021 after his spell at Tranmere Rovers and has since returned to his first club, Everton, as the club’s loans pathway manager.

Jason Steele

Jason Steele, too, would last just one season at the Stadium of Light. The goalkeeper joined from Blackburn Rovers for a six-figure fee but left on a free to join Brighton the following summer - having made just 15 appearances for the North East club.

He's still with the Seagulls and has been rewarded for his patience in recent seasons - getting a chance after serving as a back-up for a long time.

Robbin Ruiter

Dutch keeper Robbin Ruiter joined the club in the summer as competition for Steele. He spent two years at the club, suffering relegation from the Championship before only featuring once in League One.

Ruiter is now without a club, having left Cambuur in the summer of 2023. He has not announced his retirement and is still looking for a new challenge.

Marc Wilson

Marc Wilson only spent only one season with the club before moving on to Bolton Wanderers.

He enjoyed a spell in Iceland before calling time on his career in 2022.

The player has stepped away from football and is enjoying family life, but he has also taken up more time on the water as he has enjoyed fishing. Wilson has been seen to go fishing with cast north angling.

Callum McManaman

The winger signed for the club from West Bromwich Albion for free. Callum McManaman spent only one season with the club, scoring once in 27 matches.

McManaman is still playing his football in England, having signed for Wigan Athletic in the summer of 2023. This is his third spell at the club, the same club that he started his career at and the one he played in the Europa League with in the 2023–14 season.