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The Spaniard has swapped his life in Tuscany for Wearside as he heads up to the North East for the second half of the season. Marcos Alonso has had a medical at the Stadium of Light and will join the Black Cats' squad officially when the transfer window opens on January 1st .
Since deciding against extending his stay at the Reebok Stadium last year Alonso's chances have been limited in Italy only appearing twice in Serie A. The deal to take Alonso to the North East is Gus Poyet's first signing as Sunderland manager since he replaced Paolo Di Canio in October. The Uruguayan manager will be aware of Alonso's attacking threats from his time as Brighton manager. The 23-year-old produced a Man of the Match performance and scored the decisive goal in a game at the Reebok Stadium which ended 1-0.
Alonso peaked in his final year at the Reebok and became an essential part of Dougie Freedman's side. During his three year spell at with Bolton Wanderers he made 46 appearances in all competitions for us, scoring five crucial goals.
Speaking to the Sunerland Echo Poyet explained why he's drafted in the former Real Madrid man
"It's competition for Andrea Dossena who is the only recognised left-back we have here - they are different sort of players so it helps us with our options."
Sunderland are sat at the very bottom of the Barclay's Premiership after loosing 11 of their opening 19 games and will look towards Alonso to tighten up their leaky defence.