Phillips on his way back to the Saints

Last updated : 05 August 2003 By Christian Kelly

A statement from Sunderland said: "Sunderland have today accepted a £3 million bid from Southampton for Kevin Phillips. The Saints have been given permission to talk to the Black Cats striker."

Phillips, who started his career at Saints as a right back, became a prolific goal scorer with Sunderland. With 115 goals from 208 starts, Phillips was certainly one of the best strikers that the Premiership had seen.

The decline of Sunderland, the departure of Peter Reid and the failure of subsequent management and players, led the Black Cats down to the Nationwide last season.

Along the way, Phillips striking partner retired and he found goals much harder to come by. Criticism from a number of quarters as to his commitment made it a particularly tough time for the striker.

Personally I feel that Phillips suffered due to his exclusion from England squads having been barely given a chance. He had, like Beattie, undoubtedly earned his place in the squad, but wasn't a particular favourite of the hacks.

With Phillips in the squad, Saints are undoubtedly much stronger going into the new season.

As it is assumed that Phillips will be first choice, it looks as though Brett Ormerod will find his chances limited, which is a shame after such a promising season.

it will also be a highly competitive position if we see the return of Marian Pahars and Agustin Delgado. It's hard to imagine any of them being happy at being left out of the side. Strachan has a few pleasant selection headaches ahead of him.