Craig Gordon released by Sunderland

Sunderland have released the former most expensive goalkeeper in England, Craig Gordon, alongside eight others today.

Gordon, 29, fetched a £9m fee in 2007 when Roy Keane paid Hearts for their Scottish stopper.

However, he has struggled to hold down a starting place on Wearside because of a succession of injuries and losing his number one spot.

The Scot broke his arm twice and suffered niggling injuries on a constant basis, including a knee tendon and ligament injury in April last year.

Gordon recently won the Premier League save of 20 seasons for clawing out a Zat Knight header against Bolton.

He has now been usurped in the Black Cats' goal by Belgian Simon Mignolet, while Keiran Westwood is understudy.

Fellow stoppers Trevor Carson and Lewis King, defenders Liam Bagnall and Jordan Lavender, midfielders James Brace and Brett Elliott as well as strikers Jordan Cook and Oumare Tounkara have also left the North East club.