Higginbotham back at Stoke

Defender signs three-year contract at Britannia Stadium

Last updated: 2nd September 2008

sunderland danny higginbotham

Higginbotham: Glad to be back

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Sunderland defender Danny Higginbotham has completed his return to Stoke City for an undisclosed fee.

Higginbotham has signed a three-year contract at the Britannia Stadium just 12 months after joining Sunderland for £3million.

The Black Cats had rejected a £1.5million offer for the centre-half last week, with manager Roy Keane perplexed as to how Higginbotham's value had halved.

The 29-year-old had scored three goals in 22 appearances for Sunderland, but the arrival of Anton Ferdinand cast doubt on his future at the Stadium of Light.

First class

He has now finalised his move back to Stoke, with the Premier League new boys delighted to have Higginbotham in their squad again.

"Danny is a player we know very well and we are very happy to have him back here," chief executive Tony Scholes told the club's official website.

"His character and leadership qualities are both absolutely first class and we know exactly what we are getting from him.

"He was a huge success here last time and he did very well at Sunderland, so to get him back here is brilliant news for us."