Sunderland fans thrilled at Jermain Defoe signing

Sunderland's Jozy Altidore. Credit: PA

I saw Jozy Altidore score for Sunderland. I was there for all three of Jozy's goals for Sunderland actually and they were all good goals.

But they were the exceptions to the rule and the rule was; Jozy never scores.

The truth is Sunderland's notoriously goal-shy striker departs our shores a failure. A figure of fun even. That's a shame, but the numbers are brutal.

One Premier League goal in a year at Hull.

One Premier League goal in a year and a half at Sunderland.

The nation's defenders never lost much sleep at the thought of facing Jozy.

He was signed in Sunderland's disastrous summer of 2013 and it was a bit left field, but you could see the idea.

He'd enjoyed a productive spell in Holland with AZ Alkmaar and the theory was that he was the grown up version of the raw kid who flopped at Hull.

His first few performances for Sunderland were promising.

But he didn't score and he kept on not scoring.

There was one cup goal, but nothing in the league until a sharp finish against Chelsea in December 2013.

Altidore is congratulated after scoring in the Capital One Cup third round in September 2014. Credit: PA

The City of Sunderland waited for lift off, the dawning of the era of Altidore. But Jozy didn't score again that season. His confidence collapsed and eventually, inevitably, the Stadium of Light turned against him.

But all the while Jozy had been leading a double life. On the international stage he was the main man for the USA. A scorer of goals and a carrier of hopes.

Altidore was a key player in the USA squad, but laughed at on Wearside. Credit: PA

Beloved in his home nation - laughed at in Sunderland.

It reached the stage where Jozy was getting ironic encouragement. Sunderland fans were in on the joke, but you wondered if Jozy was.

There was always the sense he'd come good, but he never did. Maybe it's true that Sunderland never really played to his strengths.

But as time went by, it became hard to work out what those strengths were.

A familiar sight? Altidore reacts to missing a chance to score. Credit: PA

So the swap deal that saw Jozy go to Toronto and Jermain Defoe come back home to replace him seems like the deal of the century for Sunderland.

A return of two premier league goals in 3541 minutes on the pitch tells its own story.

Sunderland wasn't the club for him, the premier wasn't the league for him.

USA's Jozy Altidore seen during the international soccer friendly match between Austria and USA at Ernst-Happel Stadium in Vienna, Austria, 19 November 2013 Credit: PA

Poor old Jozy. A little home comfort back in the MLS is probably just what he needs.