5 stars to have played for both Sunderland and Hull City

On Saturday, the Premier League is back with a bang after the conclusion of the final international break of the calendar year, with Sunderland welcoming newly promoted Hull City to the Stadium of Light (15:00pm).

The Black Cats, who currently sit rock-bottom of the English top-flight standings following eight defeats in their opening 10 league games, are already six points adrift of safety.

However, David Moyes’ side will be buoyed by their last league outing, where they defeated AFC Bournemouth 2-1 to record their first win of the 2016/17 campaign – although the international break interrupted any potential momentum.

Meanwhile The Tigers, who are two places and five points above today’s opponents in the table, also won last time out, recording an impressive 2-1 win over Southampton, a result that halted their barren six-game losing streak.

So, with Sunderland and Hull City going head to head this afternoon, there will be several reunions of players who have featured for both sides.

For some players, there will be no grudges playing against their former employer, but for others, they will be desperate to get one over their old team.

Here is Shoot!‘s Josh Carr, who has highlighted five players who have worn both the red & white and gold & black stripes…

Vito Mannone

Although he is not likely to start the match due to the impressiveness of Jordan Pickford since filling in for the injured Italian, Vito Mannone could possibly feature on the bench for the lads in red and white this weekend.

Many Black Cats fans don’t know that the Italian shot stopper was actually a key part in Hull’s team when he was loaned there from Arsenal in the 2010/11 season, then again in the 2011/12 campaign.

This was due to Mannone finding himself as third choice ‘keeper at Arsenal.

The Italian went on to make 33 appearances for the Tigers over his two loan spells.

David Meyler

David Meyler, we found, was always pretty impressive when he featured in a red and white shirt.

The midfielder joined in 2008 when Roy Keane was in charge, however it took him a year to make his professional debut.

This was against Blackburn Rovers in 2009 and having been at that game myself, he did impress despite only being 20-years-old at the time.

However, injuries halted Meyler’s progression and he was eventually shipped off to Hull, initially on loan, after making just 25 appearances in his five-year spell at Sunderland.

Since then, the Irishman has made a whopping 122 appearances for the Tigers.

Ahmed Elmohamady

Described as “the Egyptian Beckham,” he first signed for Sunderland on loan in the summer of 2010.

He impressed Steve Bruce so much in a trial at the club that he made a move for the wing-back and secured a season-long loan from ENPPI, with the option to buy for £2m the season after.

During his first campaign under Bruce, he impressed and Sunderland took up the option to sign him permanently. However, following the departure of boss Bruce in 2011, Elmo found himself out of favour.

With Bruce taking over at Hull City, the Egyptian made a move to be reunited with his former boss on loan.

Two successful loan spells later and Elmohamady was a Hull City player permanently.

Since then, the wing-back has gone on to make 192 appearances for Hull, scoring 11 goals.

Frazier Campbell

Having made his way through the Manchester United youth academy, Frazier Campbell was sent out on loan to Hull in 2007 to help aid his development as a player.

The youngster quickly became a fan favourite when he netted twice on his debut and went on to become their top goalscorer with 15 goals during that promotion season.

However, Campbell repeatedly expressed his desire to try and break into the Manchester United side upon his return.

It wasn’t to be for Campbell at Manchester United, and in 2009, he signed a four-year contract with Sunderland.

Again, the young striker quickly became a fan favourite, but injuries blighted his career at Sunderland.

Despite this, I’ll never forget Campbell coming on against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup and scoring the equaliser after not playing a competitive game for nearly two years.

The striker scored just 10 goals in 72 appearances for the Black Cats.

Jozy Altidore

It would be wrong not to include a hero such as Jozy Altidore in this piece.

I hope you clicked onto the sarcasm there? The American first featured for Hull on loan from Xerez, with the option to buy for £6.5m at the end of the season.

However, the striker’s lack of skill and quality when it came to finishing meant that Hull did not take up this option. In fact, Altidore scored just one league goal in 28 appearances for Hull.

However, after scoring 39 goals in 67 games for AZ Alkmaar, Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio decided to take on the services of Altidore for £13m.

However, Altidore failed to do much of note for the lads in red and white, just as he did at Hull. It takes something to be described as one of the biggest flops in a Sunderland shirt considering our history of signing truly dreadful footballers.

The American would only net once in 42 Premier League appearances for Sunderland.