On this day in 2007: Sunderland sign Craig Gordon from Hearts for record fee

Sunderland signed goalkeeper Craig Gordon from Hearts in a record-breaking £9million deal on this day in 2007.

The transfer broke the previous British record for a goalkeeper, eclipsing the £7.8m Manchester United paid Monaco for Fabien Barthez.

Scotland international Gordon, who signed a five-year deal with the Black Cats, went on to make 95 appearances for Sunderland before moving back north of the border to join Celtic in 2014.

Roy Keane, the Sunderland boss who signed Gordon as part of a spending spree that exceeded £30million, was pleased to land the 24-year-old.

“I rate him very highly,” Keane said at the time.

“I think he can only get better, and this is the right club for him because we’ve good goalkeeping staff here.

“But we’re delighted. It’s been a hard deal, and (chief executive) Peter Walker has worked extremely hard.”

Having won 12 major honours at Celtic, Gordon returned to Hearts in 2020 and was named the club’s players player of the year in 2021 before suffering a double leg-break last December from which the 40-year-old is still recovering.