Sunderland complete deal for defender Kilgallon from Sheffield United

Sunderland have confirmed the signing of defender Matthew Kilgallon fromSheffield United for an undisclosed fee on a three-and-a-half-year deal.York-born Kilgallon is a central defender by trade, but can also operate at left-back, an area in which Bruce has only one senior specialist, George McCartney.However, he will be unavailable for Saturday's FA Cup fourth-round trip to Portsmouth having already played in the competition this season for the Blades.Done deal: KilgallonHis capture represents something of a coup for Bruce with Everton among a series of other Barclays Premier League clubs reportedly chasing the player in recent weeks.He was also one of Newcastle boss Chris Hughton's top targets, although the Magpies were unable to strike a deal despite making an early move to secure his services with his deal at Bramall Lane due to run out at the end of the season.Indeed, Kilgallon indicated that it was his intention to stay at Sheffield United and help in their promotion campaign until Sunderland came calling.He emerged from the ranks at Leeds, where he made 95 senior appearances before making a £2million switch to the Blades in January 2007.Player of the year for 2008-09, he made his 100th appearance for the club earlier this season.Bruce will now get to work on his remaining targets with Wigan's Maynor Figueroa and Hamburg's Guy Demel on his list. Sunderland offer £1.5m for Aston Villa defender Habib BeyeTottenham, Man City and Sunderland in £10m race for Portsmouth's KaboulSUNDERLAND AFC

Source: Daily_Mail