Sunderland’s German signing Jan Kirchhoff has admitted that he has struggled to hit top form fitness wise since joining in January.
Signing from Bayern Munich, his first appearance in a Sunderland shirt was disastrous, but has then gone onto put in some outstanding performances.
Kirchhoff originally was seen as a centre back, but by chance played a defensive midfield role which has seemed to have made him shine.
Having suffering so serious injuries when playing in Germany, having only featured in one game last season in a Bayern Munich shirt.
Kirchhoff said, “There’s still more to come and make my game even better, even in terms of fitness, because there are times when I have to slow down because I’m not fit enough for the next action.”