Crystal Palace complete signing of Connor Wickham from Sunderland in £9m deal

“I spoke to the gaffer (Palace manager Alan Pardew) last week and he said all the right things about the club and I’ve got friends here who also told me some very good things,” Wickham told Crystal Palace's official website.

“I looked at the team before I arrived here and the signings that have been brought in, and the potential to score goals and the chances that could be created was a massive influence. Hopefully I can add to that talent and make the squad stronger.

“I think I needed the fresh start, I had four years up north and it’s been a bit stop-start. Now I’ve come back home and I can settle down and see my family a bit more and hopefully let my football do the talking.”

Wickham, 22, joined Sunderland from Ipswich for around £8m in 2011, and scored six goals last season to finish their top scorer as they managed to avoid relegation to the Championship.

His total for the club was 15 in 91 matches in all competitions.

Sunderland coach Dick Advocaat took the decision to sanction the sale because the club had too many similar strikers vying for a starting place, including Steven Fletcher and Danny Graham.

“We have too many strikers and if I could have held on to them all I wouldn’t really have wanted to sell him at just 22," said Advocaat.

“However, we simply had too many players in that position and that is why the decision was made.”