Played for both: Former Sunderland and Swansea midfielder Jordi Gomez

Remembering a popular player Sunderland and Swansea shared - and what a fine penalty he could take.

It's fair to say that Sunderland and Swansea haven't had that much in common over the years, but there are a number of former popular players the clubs share. Jordi Gomez is certainly one of them. 

Jordi Gomez started his career coming through the ranks at Catalonian Giants Barcelona, he made 59 appearances for Barcelona’s B team before moving to Barca’s rivals Espanyol after only making the single appearance for the first team.

Gomez only saw the field three times for Espanyol before moving to Swansea on loan in 2008. His spell at Swansea was a successful one with the Spanish midfielder scoring against bitter rivals Cardiff City. The goal was the only goal of the game in the first South Wales derby in seven years.

The Spaniard would go on to score four goals in Swansea’s next five league games and finished the season with 14 goals and seven assists for the ‘Swans’ helping the Welsh side to an eighth-place finish.

After an impressive season at Swansea, Gomez signed for Premier League outfit Wigan Athletic in 2009 for a fee in the region of £1.7 million.

Image Credit: Charlie Forgham-Bailey

In Gomez’s first four seasons at Wigan he played 116 games in all competitions, scoring 17 goals and registering nine assists before Wigan’s relegation from the Premier League.

Despite their relegation, Gomez helped Wigan on their way to FA Cup success in 2013. He contributed seven goals in seven games and played 81 minutes of the final against Manchester City.

Following five years at Wigan, Sunderland signed Gomez on a free transfer in 2014, when Gus Poyet was in charge of the club.

Gomez made 39 appearances for the club between 2014 and 2016, the Spaniard also scored six goals and registered three assists during his time on Wearside.

Four of his six goals came from the spot, with two in the same game in a 2-1 home win against Southampton.

The Spaniard was loaned out to Blackburn Rovers in the January transfer window in 2016 after only making six appearances for the black cats in the first half of the season.

Image Credit: Joaquin Corchero

Gomez is now 37 and was recently plying his trade in Cyprus for Omonia. The Spaniard scored a memorable goal for Omonia in November 2021 when he scored an 89th minute equaliser from his own half against Qarabag in the Europa Conference League. 

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