BBC Sport - Football - Sunderland sign defenders Nedum Onuoha and John Mensah (original) (raw)

Mensah spent last season on loan at the Stadium of Light

Sunderland have signed centre-backs Nedum Onuoha and John Mensah on season-long loan deals.

Mensah, 27, returns from Lyon after spending last season on loan with the Black Cats and impressing boss Steve Bruce, despite playing only 18 times.

Calf and back injuries restricted his appearances but Bruce is delighted to have re-signed the Ghana international.

Former England Under-21 captain Onuoha, 23, joins after finding his first-team opportunities limited at Eastlands.

Mensah captained Ghana at the World Cup in South Africa, making four appearances as his side reached the quarter-finals.

Bruce told BBC Newcastle: "Mensah is such a good player. Anyone who saw him last year will know why I wanted him back.

"He was the outstanding defender at the World Cup - when he was here last year we were a better team with him in it."

Bruce has spent the summer strengthening his defence, with Mensah and Onuoha joining Titus Bramble, who signed from Wigan in July, at the Stadium of Light.

Meanwhile, Black Cats defender Matt Kilgallon is expected to join Middlesbrough on loan.

Kilgallon joined Sunderland from Sheffield United on a three-year deal in January, but has made only seven appearances in that time.

However Bruce is adamant the deal is just a temporary measure for the York-born centre-back.

"We're in talks with Middlesbrough as we speak, I expect to talk to [Middlesbrough manager] Gordon Strachan later on today, so that could be something," added Bruce.

"I don't want him to go permanently, it'll probably be a loan deal."