PLAYER PROFILE

Dwight Yorke

Position: Midfield

Height: 5'10

Weight: 11st 11lbs

Date of Birth: 1971-11-03 Canaan, Tobago

Dwight Yorke

Dwight Yorke's career in English football came to an end in April 2005 when his miserable time at Birmingham City was cut short and his contract was cancelled.

He will be best remembered for his time at Manchester United, which summed up the highs and lows of his career perfectly. Yorke became Manchester United's record signing in August 1998 following an 'on/off' transfer saga. A £16m price tag was slapped on the then 26 year old striker, but having had bids of £8m and £10m refused, Aston Villa finally let their prize asset go for a record £12.6m.

Always a crowd favourite, Dwight's dream move was completed just before the transfer deadline for the Champions' League and after a quiet away debut at West Ham he burst into life, netting twice in the 4-1 drubbing of Premiership newcomers Charlton.

He enjoyed a superb first season when everything seemed to go right and the Treble was secured. Observers were particularly impressed at the almost psychic interplay with Andy Cole after many had thought Cole wasn't capable of forging a successful strike partnership.

His career at Villa took some time to take off, as he wasn't initially considered an out and out striker. Brian Little brought out his attacking instincts and he became the first ever Aston Villa player to be named FA Premiership player of the month (for February 1996).

A revelation in the 96/97 season scoring 27 goals in all competitions, and was deservedly voted Villa's player of the year and scored the last goal in Villa's 3-0 rout of Leeds in the Coca Cola Cup Final of 1996.

His off-the-field antics have landed him in trouble with both Aston Villa and Manchester United in the past; partying and string of affairs with the likes of topless model Jordan, as well as missing training, have not always endeared him to managers and supporters.

Yorke's last two seasons at Old Trafford were mostly a nightmare that finally ended in July 2002 when Blackburn Rovers reached an agreed fee to take the striker to Ewood Park after months of haggling.

United were holding out for £6million for Trinidad and Tobago international, who was in the final year of his contract, but finally settled on a lower, undisclosed figure.

Yorke fell rapidly out of favour in his final year at Old Trafford, falling foul of Sir Alex Ferguson and finding himself excluded from the first team squad, making his eventual move away from Old Trafford a case of 'when' rather than 'if'.

Graeme Souness's no-nonsense management style is not that different to Ferguson and that lead to a few inevitable scraps with Yorke. However after a first mixed season for the talented striker Souness stayed loyal and dismissed a swap deal for Yorke, with suggestions he could be heading back to Villa Park in return for Alpay.

Yorke was eager to improve on his 13 goals in his debut season, but it was not to be. He made 27 appearances for Rovers and scored six goals, but rumour has it that Yorke was often falling out with Souness over one thing or another, namely his lifestyle.

The summer of 2004 saw Yorke linked with a move away from Ewood Park on several occasions, more so after Souness left Yorke out of the squad he took to Germany for a pre-season tour. When the squad returned, it looked as though they had called a truce and the striker was included some of the pre-season games.

However, the damage was done and it was no surprise when Yorke left on transfer deadline day in August, rejecting a move to Celtic to sign for Birmingham City for an undisclosed fee.

Unfortunately, he failed to settle at St Andrews and made just four appearances for the club. One of those came at Blackburn in November 2004 where Yorke was racially abused by a fan and when Birmingham owner David Sullivan made light of the abuse, Yorke fell out with the club and the seeds of his departure was sown.

He then joined Australian side FC Sydney for the 2005/06 season, but returned to England with Sunderland in the summer of 2006.

His experience will be vital if the Black Cats are to avoid relegation in 2007/08.