SAM ALLARDYCE has completed his first signing as Sunderland manager by landing Bayern Munich defender Jan Kirchhoff.

It is understood the Black Cats have paid £750,000 for the towering 25-year-old, who is 6ft 5in tall, and he has signed an 18-month deal at the Stadium of Light.

The former Germany U21 international began his career at FC Mainz, graduating from the youth academy to make 58 appearances for the first team, before earning himself a move to Bundesliga giants FC Bayern in 2013.

He has also had two spells on loan at Schalke and appeared in the Champions League for Bayern, despite only making seven appearances for the first team in the league.

Allardyce, hoping for more in the next week or so, said: “Jan has a very good pedigree and even though he is still relatively young he has experience of football at the highest level, including the UEFA Champions League.

“He has real versatility as a player, being comfortable in both the centre back and midfield roles. He is desperately keen to experience the Premier League and our job now is to do everything we can to help him settle and adapt quickly to life in English football, so he can have a positive impact on our squad.”

Kirchhoff will wear the No 27 shirt for Sunderland but he will not be available for the FA Cup third round tie at Arsenal on Saturday because international clearance will not come through in time.