DANNY GRAHAM has described his relief after ending his ‘very difficult’ spell with Sunderland and his former team-mate Charis Mavrias could still follow him out of the Stadium of Light on a permanent basis.

On the day Graham spoke after completing a permanent move to Blackburn Rovers, it emerged Fortuna Dusseldorf are weighing up a fresh attempt to land Mavrias on a full-time basis too.

The young Greek winger has only 12 months remaining on his contract and he is not in Sam Allardyce’s plans, having spent the second half of last season on loan at the German second division club.

Sunderland have already rejected an offer believed to be the region of £400,000, even though he has made just one first team appearance in the two-and-a-half years; meaning his £2.5m dream Premier League move from Panathinaikos in the summer of 2013 has never taken off.

Dusseldorf’s head coach Friedhelm Funkel said: “Sunderland have rejected our offer, which was probably too low. We have to think about it and I do not know how we will proceed.

“It is quite clear that there are economic limits and we are always looking for alternatives. Whether it works with Mavrias or not, I don’t know. Harry is very fast and can play attractive football. I think he is a really good player.”

Mavrias played 14 times for Dusseldorf and impressed sufficiently after a frustrating time on Wearside where he was hardly given an opportunity despite clearly having ability down the line.

There have been a number of players in the same boat who have struggled to make an impact in recent years, with many of the signings made during Paolo di Canio’s ill-fated reign proving unsuccessful.

Graham was an arrival before that time, having been bought three years ago for £5m by Martin O’Neill. He scored seven goals in 18 games during a loan spell at Blackburn last season and, despite a change of manager, Owen Coyle has taken him back to Ewood Park.

"Obviously, the success I had at the end of last season was a massive part of it," Graham said, knowing he only scored once in 41 outings during his time at Sunderland.

"The gaffer has been on the phone five or six days in a row now to show how much he really wants me at this football club and what plans he's got for the club taking it forward, so I'm looking forward to working with him and getting back to see the lads and getting pre-season going.

"My loan spell here was everything I wanted. I've had a stop-start last three seasons, where I've never really played a full season and to come here, the gaffer said I'm going to play week-in and week-out if I'm fit and doing well, so the success I had at the back end of last season played a massive part and I can't wait to get going now.

"Obviously my time at Sunderland was very difficult and to come here and do well and the fans wanted me to come back played a massive part as well. It's a big football club, the gaffer has big plans for it and I’m just looking forward to getting the work done now. It's nice to feel wanted, but most importantly I wanted to be here as well, so I'm delighted to get it done."

Allardyce is looking for his first transfer breakthrough of the summer having so far come up short in his bid bring in a couple of his targets. Despite hopes something might have been done before the Euros, he is having to be more patient.

He remains in the hunt for West Ham striker Diafra Sakho but is unwilling to match the £15m valuation, while Sunderland have been linked with Fenerbahce midfielder Ozan Tufan. Everton and Southampton are also keen but he still has four years on his contract.