SUNDERLAND’S ongoing squad restructure has continued with the departure of Liam Bridcutt to Leeds United.

As flagged up on The Northern Echo website yesterday, Bridcutt has signed a two-year deal at Elland Road after completing a medical in West Yorkshire last night.

The midfielder joined the Black Cats in a £4m move from Brighton in January 2014, but while Gustavo Poyet clearly rated him highly, both Dick Advocaat and Sam Allardyce shuffled him out of the first-team picture.

He spent the majority of last season on loan at Leeds, and Sunderland have come to an agreement with the Elland Road club that has effectively resulted in the cancellation of the final year of his deal at the Stadium of Light.

David Moyes’ decision to field John O’Shea as a central midfielder at Manchester City at the weekend confirmed he had no faith in Bridcutt’s ability – the 27-year-old was not even part of the Black Cats squad at the Etihad Stadium – and his departure follows the exit of a number of other fringe players since the end of last season.

Steven Fletcher and Danny Graham were released as free agents, while Emanuele Giaccherini, Will Buckley, Sebastian Coates, Santiago Vergini and Adam Matthews have all left either permanently or on loan.

Moyes’ restructuring programme has seen him make four additions since replacing Sam Allardyce, with Adnan Januzaj joining Papy Djilobodji, Donald Love and Paddy McNair on the list of new signings when he agreed a season-long loan from Manchester United on Friday.

Januzaj made his Sunderland debut as a second-half substitute in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to City, and is delighted to have rekindled his relationship with Moyes, who gave him his senior break during his time in charge at Old Trafford.

“The manager has given me the opportunity to prove myself again, so I am really happy to be here,” said the winger. “Of course I am looking forward to playing games and working with him again.

“I always enjoyed playing in his team, with the freedom he gives me and the confidence. Once you have that confidence, you can do things and make things happen. I am really happy to be here.”

Januzaj made his first Manchester United start at the Stadium of Light, and scored both of his side’s goals in a 2-1 victory in October 2013.

He will return to Wearside on Sunday when he will hope to make his first Sunderland start in the Wear-Tees derby with Middlesbrough, and is hoping to enjoy similar goalscoring success.

“My job is to score goals, give assists and help the team win games,” he said. “That is why I am here. I am 21 and I want to play games, so I came here to play.”