Clearly Cattermole wanted to be reunited with Steve Bruce at the Black Cats, and no-one can blame him for that.
Bruce plucked Cattermole from squad rotation obscurity at Middlesbrough last summer and gave him a central midfield role at the JJB Stadium, into which he grew into a talented midfielder. Cattermole will now be hoping he can replicate this form with Sunderland up in the North East.
However such a short term view could well have clouded over the long term impact on Cattermole's career who at just 21 years old, needs not rush his development.
Firstly, are Sunderland really the club they make themselves out to be?
Fair enough they have a very impressive stadium and have the good fortune to be able to fill it with 1/3 of the North East's unemployed population (Middlesbrough and Newcastle make up the other 2/3).
They also boast a new rich owner who is going to turn them into a top four team, but so do the rest of the top ten in the Premiership.
And finally the club is located close to Cattermole's old stomping ground in the North East and it was only back in January that Cattermole was arrested on a visit to Middlesbrough after an altercation with a supporter on a night out in town.
This prompted Bruce to admit that it was important for Cattermole to get away from the North East. Six months later and Bruce has felt it important enough for Catts to move back.
However most importantly, Cattermole need only look across the Wigan Athletic midfield last season to Antonio Valencia for an example of how to progress and deal with transfer speculation.
Valencia spent three seasons with Wigan Athletic and developed himself into a very talented midfielder who has now been given the opportunity to play for one of the best sides in the world in Manchester United.
He could easily have stormed around the training ground much earlier demanding his move away from the club, instead the Equadorian was very professional and handled all speculation with great dignity, finally sealing his dream move this summer.
With speculation that Benitez of Liverpool was interested in Cattermole, would he not have been better tidying his disciplinary record and repeating his commanding midfield performances for the Latics this season, before moving to one of Europe's elite, as opposed to lining up in midfield alongside Andy Reid and Teemu Tainio?
On a side note, the fee appears low with the Latics only receiving £6 million up front with a further £2 million based on future appearances. This represents an initial profit of £2.5 million over one season, but certainly does not represent a fair fee for an England under 21 international midfielder with two years remaining on his contract.
Only time will tell for Cattermole, but for me, he's jumped to early.
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Bruce plucked Cattermole from squad rotation obscurity at Middlesbrough last summer and gave him a central midfield role at the JJB Stadium, into which he grew into a talented midfielder. Cattermole will now be hoping he can replicate this form with Sunderland up in the North East.
However such a short term view could well have clouded over the long term impact on Cattermole's career who at just 21 years old, needs not rush his development.
Firstly, are Sunderland really the club they make themselves out to be?
Fair enough they have a very impressive stadium and have the good fortune to be able to fill it with 1/3 of the North East's unemployed population (Middlesbrough and Newcastle make up the other 2/3).
They also boast a new rich owner who is going to turn them into a top four team, but so do the rest of the top ten in the Premiership.
And finally the club is located close to Cattermole's old stomping ground in the North East and it was only back in January that Cattermole was arrested on a visit to Middlesbrough after an altercation with a supporter on a night out in town.
This prompted Bruce to admit that it was important for Cattermole to get away from the North East. Six months later and Bruce has felt it important enough for Catts to move back.
Lee Cattermole battles with Fernando Torres of Liverpool
However most importantly, Cattermole need only look across the Wigan Athletic midfield last season to Antonio Valencia for an example of how to progress and deal with transfer speculation.
Valencia spent three seasons with Wigan Athletic and developed himself into a very talented midfielder who has now been given the opportunity to play for one of the best sides in the world in Manchester United.
He could easily have stormed around the training ground much earlier demanding his move away from the club, instead the Equadorian was very professional and handled all speculation with great dignity, finally sealing his dream move this summer.
With speculation that Benitez of Liverpool was interested in Cattermole, would he not have been better tidying his disciplinary record and repeating his commanding midfield performances for the Latics this season, before moving to one of Europe's elite, as opposed to lining up in midfield alongside Andy Reid and Teemu Tainio?
On a side note, the fee appears low with the Latics only receiving £6 million up front with a further £2 million based on future appearances. This represents an initial profit of £2.5 million over one season, but certainly does not represent a fair fee for an England under 21 international midfielder with two years remaining on his contract.
Only time will tell for Cattermole, but for me, he's jumped to early.
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