New Sunderland signing Nathan Bishop accidentally left Wrexham’s Paul Mullin with a punctured lung after colliding during a pre-season friendly (Photo: Sunderland AFC/Getty)
Nathan Bishop has left Manchester United for Sunderland – just a week after committing a ‘dangerous’ foul in a pre-season friendly against Wrexham.
The goalkeeper has signed a three-year deal with the Black Cats and joins the Championship side for an undisclosed fee.
Upon signing for his new team, the 23-year-old said: ‘You see the direction that the club is going, playing young players and allowing them to express themselves and push on in a great league.
‘I think that is so exciting, so I want to come in and earn the right to play for such a great team and a great club.’
Sunderland finished sixth in their first season back in the second-tier, losing in the play-offs to Luton Town, and have serious ambitions of winning promotion back to the Premier League this campaign.
Bishop joined United from Southend in 2020 but would never make a senior appearance for the Red Devils, spending the 2021/22 season on loan at Mansfield.
His contract was due to expire this summer only for the club to trigger a one-year extension option that was in his deal.
Mullin is set to be out for at least two months (Photo: Getty)
He was then included in United’s pre-season tour of the USA, starting the highly publicised friendly against Welsh club Wrexham, owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
However, Bishop would make headlines for all the wrong reasons after a challenge on Paul Mullin left the opposition’s star striker with a punctured lung, and he is now set to be on the sidelines for at least the next two months.
The keeper was booed by fans throughout the rest of the game and was heavily criticised by Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson who said: ‘I’m fuming about it, I’ve got to be honest with you. It was a clumsy, reckless, challenge in a pre-season game and I’m not happy with it at all.
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‘I haven’t seen the goalie and he’s probably best steering clear of us for the time being because we’re not very happy.’
United were left unhappy with these comments, while Bishop issued an apology to Mullin on social media: ‘Just wanted to share my sincerest apologies.
‘A complete misjudgement and a genuine accident with zero malicious intent at all! Wishing you the speediest recovery and hope to see you back scoring goals as soon as possible!’
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The keeper made headlines for the wrong reasons in a recent friendly.Â