Sunderland AFC will have been the envy of Chelsea and Crystal Palace when it came to £1.5m man | OneFootball

Sunderland got the best out of the Dutchman during his time in England.

Sunderland were never the role models of how to conduct Premier League transfer business, which is why they plummeted down the divisions.

However, every so often they got it right, and this was the case with Patrick van Aanholt, who the Black Cats acquired for a meagre £1.5m.

When comparing his time on Wearside to his spells at Chelsea and Crystal Palace, it is clear there was one winner from his stint in the Premier League.

Chelsea never got the best of Patrick van Aanholt

One look at van Aanholt's Chelsea kit tells you the reason why the Dutchman struggled to make his mark in West London.

The left-back came through the ranks at the Blues at a time when the club were thriving, with the likes of Frank Lampard, John Terry and Nicolas Anelka all in Carlo Ancelotti's starting line-up.

Left-back was not always Chelsea's strongest position but van Aanholt was still up against some stiff competition, with Ashley Cole, Ryan Bertrand and Yuriy Zhirkov during his time at Stamford Bridge.

During his time in the capital, the Dutchman had to settle for scraps and only made eight appearances, with most of those coming from the bench.

While he would have loved to have made a name for himself at the Bridge, deep down he would have known his opportunity would come elsewhere, which is where Sunderland came in.

van Aanholt enjoyed his best football with Sunderland

In the summer of 2014, the Black Cats pounced at the chance to bring in van Aanholt and, considering he was only 23 years of age, he was a player with a high ceiling.

The reported fee to bring the left-back to the Stadium of Light was £1.5m, which felt like a no-brainer for Gus Poyet as he looked to replace Marcos Alonso, who had returned to Fiorentina.

Although a defender, the Dutchman showed his attacking prowess during his first season with the club and bagged an impressive five assists despite missing a chunk of the campaign with injury.

The more van Aanholt played for Sunderland, the better he got, with his strongest season coming in 2015/16, when he contributed five goals and three assists.

To rub salt in the wound for Chelsea, the left-back teed up Fabio Borini to secure a famous 3-2 win over Guus Hiddink's side as they achieved a famous survival under Sam Allardyce.

Unfortunately for the Wearsiders, van Aanholt's time at the club did not last much longer, as he departed for Palace in the 2017 January transfer window, with Sunderland suffering relegation four months later.

The Dutchman failed to live up to Crystal Palace price tag

Looking back, the defender's switch to Palace did make sense. After all, the Black Cats were on course for relegation and van Aanholt was Premier League quality.

The £12m fee was a large one at the time and considering Sunderland only paid £1.5m, it would be hard to argue against Sunderland's decision to let him go.

During his first full season at Selhurst Park, the left-back equalled his best season in terms of goals by netting five times for the Eagles, with all his goals coming in the last nine games.

While his attacking returns were admirable, question marks were often raised over the quality of his defending and at times he looked more of a winger than a defender.

Similarities must be drawn to modern top flight full-backs, with players like Pedro Porro often contributing in attack but struggling to do his premier job.

The Dutchman's time in South East London was solid, but the fact that he was allowed to leave on a free transfer tells you he failed to match the highs he achieved in the North East.

Patrick van Aanholt should be proud of what he achieved in English football, considering he had to make a name for himself away from Stamford Bridge.