Sunderland Football Club News

• Nickname:Black Cats
• Founded:1879
• Manager:Martin O'Neill

• Ground:Stadium of light
• Capacity:48,353

Keane wins Stokes race

08 Jan 2007 - 14:57:44

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Sunderland have beaten Charlton Athletic and Celtic to capture Arsenal's highly-rated striker Anthony Stokes.

The 18-year-old moves to the Black Cats for £2million and has signed a deal that will keep him at the Stadium of Light until June 2010.

"It's brilliant to be here," Stokes told Sunderland's official website. "It's been a hectic few days, sorting things out, and now I'm looking forward to training and playing.

"I spoke to Roy Keane about everything, he told me his hopes for the club, and it made up my mind. I'm excited about the move to Sunderland."

Stokes spent the first half of the season on loan with Falkirk and scored 16 goals in 18 appearances for the Bairns before returning to Arsenal earlier this month.