Former Sunderland defensive midfielder left the Black Cats at the end of August last year, just over 10 years after joining them on a £6.3million deal from Wigan Athletic. He left the Stadium of Light for an ‘adventure’ in Holland with Eredivisie side VVV Venlo, signing on for a one-year deal. However, in talking to talkSPORT (below), Cattermole feels that adventure could be over.
“I’m really disappointed.” 😩
“I think the TV money is not as big in terms of revenue as it is here.” 📺
“I really don’t know [if the Dutch adventure is over].”
Former #SAFC man Lee Cattermole is unsure if he’ll be remaining with VVV-Venlo after the Eredivisie was cancelled. pic.twitter.com/qBZdkmNo5K
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) April 27, 2020
In the 10 years that he was at Sunderland, the Stockton-on-Tees born midfielder featured in 262 games for the Black Cats, games which produced10 goals and 11 assists for the 32-year-old. He experienced the highs of playing in the Premier League for the Wearsiders, his total for them a large part of his 272 games at that level.
He’s also experienced the lows of subsequent, consecutive relegations to the Sky Bet Championship and then to League One where he made 29 appearances (seven goals/one assist) last season. It was a season where the Black Cats were unsuccessful in the promotion play-offs and one which led to his move to Holland.
However, that adventure has been squashed with the Dutch FA folding in the Eredivisie season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving Cattermole to state that he is “really disappointed” and doesn’t know if his time in Holland will continue with his initial one-year deal coming to an end.
